Dear Lloyd,Enclosed is a photo showing Neil Klopfenstein, Duputy Chief Of Mission and Commander Patrick Geraghty of the AmericanEmbassy and U.S. Navy Armed Guard WW II Veteran Robert “Bob” Abbott of Oregon laying a wreath at the FossvogurCemetery In Reykavick, Iceland on Saturday July 12, 2008 as part of the memorial of the conference “The Arctic Convoys: Alifeline Across The Atlantic.” In the background (l-r) are Anatoly Lifshits, Russian Veteran; Gudbjorn Gudjonsson and PeturOlafsson, Icelandic Veterans and Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland.

ElizaPage 2

3941 – Robert Abbott, H.E Ian WhittingBritain’s Ambassador to Iceland, andYekaterina Yermolina, MurmanskGymnasium #9

Page 3

Board of DirectorsC.A. Lloyd . . . . . . . . . NCBill Bartzatt. . . . . . . . . NEDon Gleason . . . . . . . . KSClarence Korker . . . . . FLJoe Colgan.. . . . . . . . . . MDGerald Greaves . . . . . . RIAl Sniff . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLDuane Howard . . . . . . INRalph McNally. . . . . . OKJoseph Benedict . . . . MNRichard Hudnall. . . . . AZZed Merrill . . . . . . . . . ORJoe Esposito . . . . . . . . . ILBernard Stansbury . . . VAWilliam Sache . . . . . . MAHilary Makowski. . . . . PAArnold Latare . . . . . . . IABob Ober . . . . . . . . . . OHJ.F. Carter . . . . . . . . . . LAHoward Long . . . . . . . SCKen Niebuhr . . . . . . . . WIMike Molinari. . . . . . . NYTom Dufrense . . . . . . MARaymond Didur..........MI

TrusteesC.A. Lloyd . . . . . . . . . NCTheo Schorr . . . . . . . . PAJohn Shirley . . . . . . . . TXArthur Fazzone . . . . . NYLouis Tew . . . . . . . . . . CTJohnny Stanley. . . . . . GAAl Colella. . . . . . . . . . MOJay Wildfong . . . . . . . . WIHenry Harrison . . . . . WAMervil Yarbrough . CANeal Vermillion. . . . . MDWm. A. Carter . . . . . . DE

ChaplainsLyle Kell . . . . . . . . . . . WABuck Donaldson . . . . TN

You know where you are.You know where we are.We know where we are.But we don't always know where you are.Please notify us when you move.

Non-Profit OrganizationTax Exempt No. 74-2316668

Remember, I “STILL” can't moveas fast as I did when I was in mytwenties! When you call, let thephone ring so I can get to it! -CAL

Officers for 2007Charles A. Lloyd, Chairman & Sec.Treas. 1985-2009115 Wall Creek DriveRolesville, N.C. 275711-919-570-0909clloyd@nc.rr.com

Ron Carlson 616 Putnam PlaceAlexander, VA 22302-4018703-549-5908

Dear Crew and the Rest of you! May/Sept. 2008 Edition

I finally got around to getting another Pointer printed! Thank you for your letters, calls and

concern of the delay. I will try to do better. All’s well here besides a few pains which I am told,

comes with the aging process. Guess you may have a few yourself. Not only are we the

“GREATEST GENERATION”, we are the “OLDEST” NOW!

This editon’s cover of the POINTER of the late Tom Bowerman is to Honor him for his

years of Service to his country and for his devotion in saving the History of the U.S.N.Armed

Guard in WW II. Without him, all he saved would never have been known. He started his

AG Web Site some 16 years ago and it was all “GRATIS”. All people with computers has to

do is to type in at GOOGLE www.armed-guard.com. Ron Carlson, a docent on the S.S.

JOHN W. BROWN is the KEEPER of it now and I hope he can continue a long time and

pass it along to someone else in the future, be it 50 years or 500 years or more. Hope the ship

is sailing then, also. Do not email or call Ron with questions, contact me.

Robert “Bob” Abbott and George Kost were the only ones on our mailing list from the USA

to sign on to attend the Iceland Ceremony to the NORTH ATLANTIC RUN. Abbott was

the only one to attend. Kost had some health problems a few days before but doing well now.

I had been trying for years to get an Armed Guard/Merchant Seaman reunion together and

since the MM reunion in Oregon was a success and when Morris Ed Harvey (MM) 8055

Dacca Terr., Dunellon, Fl. 34433 352-564-0267 morrisharvey27@yahoo.com called and

asked, “Would we be interested in holding one together” and after a few calls to Al Sniff and

others, they all said, “GO FOR IT”. Ed will be looking after it with our help. It will be held

in Tampa, Fl. May 14 thru 17, 2009 and sail the S.S. AMERICAN

VICTORY together on the 16th, if we can get a hotel. Harvey has met

with several hotels and at this time, neither has been selected. More

on this in the next POINTER. I hope your health and money holds

out so we can get together for the “LAST FINALE.” The countries

we saved from their enemy in WW II has forgotten who their friends

were and out to ruin our economy. (Plus-Politicians) Here’s to your

health. Vote your concience.

calloyd

ATTENTION

Officers - Gunners - Signalmen - Radiomen - Corpsmen - Waves - Boatswains - Coxswains - Ship's Company - Radarmen

***Cover photo –In memory Tom Bowerman who spent over 15 years putting together the Armed-Guard Website www.armed-guard.com

Page 4

E-MAILS to look at, by calloyd

USN ARMED GUARD WW II

www.armed-guard.com

By the late Tom Bowerman of

Anniston, Ala.

www.thefrenchwillneverforget.com

From

THE AMERICAN LEGION MAG

6/2008

www.navalorder.org

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Hello Charles,

You asked, “What are your sailing

dates for the rest of 2008 and 2009.”

Thank you for your interest in the S.S.

AMERICAN VICTORY. All of our

tours, cruises and volunteer informa-

tion is located at our web address

americanvictory.org and our next

cruise is November 8, 2008 and the

ticket price is $125..Hope you and oth-

ers can be with us. Have a great day.

Noelle Vohs, Purser, S.S. AMERI-

CAN VICTORY 705 Channelside Dr.

Tampa, Fl. 33602

***********

Noelle, not all of our crew has computers so Iwill put this up front for “SNOW-BIRDS”!! PLUS!! MM MorrisEd Harvey 8055 Dacca Ter.,Dunnellon, Fl. 34433 352-564-0267morrisharvey27@yahoo.com and I have inthe “WORKS” to hold an “AG/MM WWII FINAL REUNION ” together inTampa on May 14-17th, 2009 if all goeswell and we can get a decent priced hotelthere and we hope to sail the S.S. AMER-ICAN VICTORY on the 16th if she canpass the Coast Guard inspection and anyproblems corrected by then. Those of you whothink they can make it, please let me know assoon as possible by writing, calling or E-Mail me stating: COUNT ME IN FOR (# ) PEOPLE. This will give me a numberto go by, by October, so we can make planswith the hotel. Results will be in the nextPOINTER. (cal)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

C.A.,

Here is a picture of an old Armed

Guard buddy and myself that I had not

seen since 8/21/1945 when we left the

T-2 tanker S.S. WAHOO SWAMP

after being on board since 8/30/44. He

stopped over in Cleveland, Ohio on

6/10/2008 to see me and we had break-

fast together and a very nice, few hours

together talking of old times and our

Navy life together. You told me once

that this is what the Armed Guard

Association was all about and you were

right and I want to THANK YOU for

keeping it alive. Our meeting was

priceless. In the photo, I am on the left

and Bob Stevenson 2598 SW National

Cir., Port St Lucie. Fl. 34953 920-360-

7270 is on the right.

Robert B.Simmons 6434 Ledgebrook

Dr., Brook Park, Oh. 44142

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

C.A. Lloyd,

Thanks for your phone call this

evening. Attached is a better copy of

the article on the S.S. HENRY

BACON I had sent. Hang in there

guy. You do good work. We appreciate

it.

Richard C. Haberer 12064 Maxim

Way, Cincinnati, Oh. 45249

SEE PAGE 18

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

C.A.,

Here is Camera-Ready graphic of

BETRAYAL in the NORTH

ATLANTIC. I am trying to get all the

History of the Armed Guard/

Merchant Marine and what they did

while I am able. Thank you for your

help.

Zed Merrill, Armed Guard.

SEE PAGE 24

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Book “UNSUNG SAILORS”

By Justin Gleichauf is available see below

Hello Mr. Lloyd,

We do have Unsung Sailors in paper

back available list price $21.95 1,748

available ISBN: 155750-4202. Heroes

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Bob (Whitey)Simmons and Bob Sevenson in Cleveland, OH.

Page 5

in Dungarees also available in paper

back 1,246 available list price $19.95

ISBN: 159114-0094. Please contact me

if you have any further questions or if I

can be of assistance. Have a great day!

Debra Smith, Member Services

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Charles,

Enclosed is the photo of the U.S.

MERCHANT MARINE/U.S. NAVY

ARMED MEMORIAL near the USS

NEW JERSEY in Camden, N.J. which

was dedicated June 11, 2005. Joseph

CiCiollo, 32 Gray Birch Rd.,

Titusville, N.J. 08012

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Aboard the Liberty Ship S.S. LIL-

LIAN NORDICA World War II

excerpts kept from 12/17/44-4/31/45.

Lt( jg) Howard was our Gunnery

Officer and there were 27 enlisted men

who took care of the 10 guns aboard

the ship. On 12/17/44, I reported on

deck as the Gunners Mate in charge of

the 5”38 and the Hydraulic Specialist.

It was my responsibility to inspect,

check and order supplies, replenish the

hydraulic system, etc..

We left New York on 1/1/45 for desti-

nation unknown. On 1/3/45, we

received word there was a sub in the

area and that a tanker was sunk off of

Boston and we had been at sea only 24

hours. On 1/16/45, at 0200, depth

charges were dropping all around us

and a hospital ship broke through the

convoy as we entered the English

Channel and we learned we were going

to Antwerp, Belguim. We anchored at

Downs, England and on the 18th, we

formed a convoy to Antwerp. We could

see the coast of Calais, France and ack-

ack guns firing at some German planes.

We were a 11 ship convoy and we had to

go in single file in order to enter the

Schelde River to Antwerp. We are at

GQ with everyone at their guns and the

D.E.’s are trying to locate the subs

attacking us. Two of our ships have

been hit and were told to pull out of the

line to sink, to keep from sinking and

blocking the entrance to the river.

On 1/23/45, we are nine ships traveling

up the river. When darkness

approached, we had to drop anchor as

traveling at night was too dangerous for

mines for we did not have radar.

During the night, a German bomber

flew over looking for us but were

instructed to not open fire as it would

give our position away and the shrapnel

would come down on the troops. The

plane was not shot down and flew away.

On 1/23/45, we lifted anchor and sailed

forAntwerp. We were standing watch

with 30-06 Springfield rifles for

underwater swimmers so they couldn’t

attach explosives to the ships.The ship

arrived and we went through the locks

and docked at 0300. We were advised

that a German 109-F fighter plane

straffed the docks the day before look-

ing for us but we were a day late. At

0700, the BUZZ BOMBS started and

flew continously over our ship and

some were being shot down by the land

Ack-Ack guns. Others flew into the

city of Antwerp hitting hotels and busi-

ness buildings.

On the 26th, 27th and 28th, our ship

was being unloaded and had Liberty

and some went to Brussels but it was

off limit. I had to pick up the mail, then

return to the ship, then have Liberty, so

I remained in Antwerp during these

days and saw the movie theatre get hit

by a buzz bomb. I did some shopping

and bought my mother some needle

point hankies, my sister Claire some

wooden shoes made in Holland, a

German Arm Band and I traded the

shoes for army combat boots. I bought

some perfume called “PRINTEMP”

for my girlfriend. I visited the

Cathedral which was beautiful. All the

pictures and costly items were protect-

ed from the bombing. The railroad sta-

tion was almost demolished.

We left Antwerp on 2/1/45 for Cardiff,

South Wales. I tried to locate my Army

brother Armand who was stationed

somewhere in England. The R.T.O.

ashore gave me a phone number to call

and with no luck until I met Shelia

O’Leary who showed me how to use the

phone. I located my brother in Ipswich,

North of London I spoke with him on

the phone and told him that I was able

to get a 3 day pass to visit him.

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

U.S. Merchant Marine U.S. Navy Armed Guard Memorial

Page 6

I took a train out of Cardiff on 2/11/45

and arrived in London and stayed at the

Columbia Hotel overnight and took the

train the next morning to his base. He

showed me around the base and barracks

and the airfield which was full of P-51

fighter planes. Next morning, we left for

London and there, took a taxi tour of

London.Visited Marcell and his wife

and had dinner with them. Then,

Armand and I went to Au Bijou night

club. Next morning, we visited the

changing of the guards at Buckingham

Palace and the Tower of London.

I returned to the ship on the 17th and on

the 22nd, we lifted anchor for Antwerp

and the escorts dropped depth charges

so they must have spotted a sub. We

anchored at the Island of White and left

on the 25th and on the 26th we went to

GQ at 0700. Two ships damaged, one

sunk. We arrived in Antwerp on the

27th. We went on Liberty and 3 of us

were going into a bar but did not due to

no activity so we went into another bar

called the Café Francaise a block away.

While we were there, a V-2 hit the build-

ing we almost went into. The building

was demolished!! We were lucky!!

On 3/1/45, I went ashore to pick up the

mail and V-1 bombs were flying over all

day. We left Antwerp on 3/4/45 and on

the 5TH, we anchored off shore at

Southern, England. On the 6th, 7th and

8th, a German plane flew over the ship,

the 4th ship reported hit and sinking.

Escorts opened fire on something and

depth charges dropping all around us.

German subs reported. One reported

captured we joined a 80 ship convoy to

New York. Ran into bad weather with

heavy wind and rain for several days.

Then good weather but cold and snow.

Had to shovel snow off the deck.

Cleaned the guns and prepared for the

States. Arrived in New york 3/25/45.

Received mail, called home and went on

Liberty.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Lloyd, 9/4/2007

I was in the U.S.Merchant Marine from

June 1944 through Nov. 1952. During

the war I shipped out on a T-2 Tanker,

S.S. SMOKY HILLS and spent 14

months under the protection of the

greatest bunch of men, the Navy

Armed Guard. We had two engage-

ments with the enemy in the Pacific and

our Armed Guard gave them hell. I was

the hotshellsman on the 3”50 on the

bow gun tub. As a fifteen and one half

year old, I thought it would be great

fun, but later, I understood the sacri-

fice that these men made to protect our

ship, our sailors and our vital cargo.

Please accept my donation with respect

and love for all of those great guys. I

would like to become active in this

organization. Enclosed is a picture of

the HILLS. Please let me know who I

can contact in Southern California.

Respectfully,

Arthur Webster,

7032 Partridge Pl., Carlsbad, Ca. 92011

760-804-7365 toroweb@aol.com

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Dear Mr. Lloyd,

I came across this picture and several

others. I am sorry but I have no names

to go with it but in Memory of our fine

men and that of my late husband,

Robert B. Iwema, I would like to share

it.If you can or can not use it, please

return it. You have his ship’s records he

was on. The photo was of the S.S.

ELIZABETH BLACKWELL Nov.

11, 1943 at San Francisco, Ca. Bob is 1st

row, left end of row. Keep up the good

work.

Mrs. Robert B. Iwema, 1607 Sunset

Ln., Fullerton, Ca. 92833.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

From the AMMV Emerald Sea

Chapter comes this story which has

been told before.

Aug. 20, 1944, the S.S. RICHARD

MONTGOMERY ran aground in the

Thames Estuary with a load of bombs

and during the night, she swung

around at her mooring and ran

aground on the sand. Her plates began

to crack and buckle. Shortly after-

wards, work began to remove the

cargo. The ship’s own booms and

winches were used. Salvage work was

used for several days until a storm

struck. She drug anchor and broke her

back and split into two parts and she

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

S.S. Elizabeth Blackwell Crew

Page 7

remains there today. Should it ever

explode, they say it would be the the

largest non-nuclear explosion ever

had. Salvage experts says it is safer to

leave as is than try to remove it. The

booms are still visible. She carried a

MM crew of 42, and 25 Armed Guard.

There were no casualties.

As I was reading about the S.S.RICHARD MONTGOMERY andhad typed this much. I stopped and read therest and saw another interested article whichappeared to be written by a British lady buthad no name or address as to the writer so Icalled Ed Lingenfield to get a name andcome to find out, his British wife of 14 yearswrote story and after talking with them, Iasked her to E-Mail me the story which theyhave and I will let her story tell it as she sawit. Thank you Beryl. (cal) –SEE pg. 14–

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

A TRIBUTE TO ALL THE “MESSBOYS”

Bill Schneider, P.O. Box 4751 Ventura, Ca.805-647-3749 sent me his certificate of dis-charge from the Department Of Commerceas a “MESSBOY ” and I wanted toHONOR all of the “MESSBOYS” for ajob well done. They did their job and to myknowledge, they have never been honored. Asmy brother, Louis E. (Jack) Lloyd was amessboy in the MM on the S.S.WILLIAM D. HOARD, also, I wouldlike to say, SALUTE to you. Jack said hepeeled more potatoes than he ever thoughtwere ever grown. (calloyd)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

From David Raymond of PSC Box 8RAPO AP 96554 who lives DOWNUN-DER, Australia, Saying he received theJan/Apr 2008 POINTER and states hewas taking a flight around the world on theSingapore Airways for he can go around theworld cheaper than flying to and fromGermany providing you make 3 stopovers sohe was off to Singapore, for 4 days, Germanyfor 2 weeks, Phoenix, Az. for 3 weeks,

Hawaii for 1 week to rest up and and home.On their International flights, the drinksand meals are free.(Modern Travel) cal

(APO address, in case those of you who don’tknow is an American address for some gov.people overseas.) (cal)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

SEE PAGE 36

Dear Mr. Lloyd

I was on the S.S. HIRAM S. MAXIM

that was bombed during the night

10/4/43, 10 miles off Cape Tenes,

Algeria. There were no AG casualties.

We were all told to abandon ship as the

engine room is where to bomb hit. It

was a good thing it hit where it did as

our 4 holds were full of bombs so none

of us would have survived. I have a

copy of my Survivor Card (No. 8104)

showing I was interviewed and there

were Forms NNI-142 and 142-X exe-

cuted and forwarded on 10/26/43 at

Port Said with R.S. Rauch, Jr Lt(jg)’s

signature. Enclosed is my service num-

ber and I was a SM1/c at the time. I

made GM2/c in 1944 until discharged.

Clarence D Haugen

6307 83rd Ave. SE,

Snohomish, Wa. 98290

360-568-3316

***********

Haugen, You can’t get much closer than thatcan you? Art Moore’s book indicate’s no casu-alties and the ship was towed to Algiers andit’s precious cargo was saved. Your ship crew

were abandoned in 5 lifeboats and the S.S.LESLIE M. SHAW picked up 29 menand the S.S. HARRY LANE picked upthe other 40. (cal)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Dear C.A. 6/8/08

I read the Jan/Apr Pointer with great

interest. Particularly the part about the

PURPLE HEART MUSEUM locat-

ed in Vails Gate, New York. This is an

area that I am very familiar with. I was

born and raised in nearby Cornwall.

My grandfather and his family lived

most of their lives in Vails Gate. I,

myself, lived there when I was first

married. I was a Vails Gate volunteer

fireman for many years. The museum

is located next to the new Windsor

Cantonment, also known as Temple

Hill. This is where the troops were

hunkered down from October 1792 to

October 1793. There is a lookout tower

on the property where sentries were

stationed to watch for signals if the

British were coming up the Hudson

River.

A chain was strung across the river

near West Point in effort to stop enemy

ships.

There is a lot of history in the surround-

ing area located near Stewart

International Airport with George

Washington’s headquarters on the banks

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Certificate of Discharge, Bill Schneider 805-647-3749

Page 8

of the Hudson River which is about 6

miles away from the city of Newburgh.

This is where Washington spent his time

directing his troops. This is also the place

where he refused the crown. The Merit

Badge of Courage was designed here.

The PURPLE HEART was originated

from that design.

We visited our family in the Cornwall-

New Windsor area in May and visted

these sites. Thought you may be interest-

ed in these pictures taken there. The

museum wants any Purple Heart recipi-

ent to contact them so they can add their

names to the roll. Hope all is well with

you and Hilda.

Wm.W. Ball,

300 Wisteria Ct., Deltona, Fl. 32738

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

DearCharles, 3/27/08

It was nice hearing from you. I was so

surprised to receive all the items sent to

me. I am so delighted to have them. I read

the POINTERS nightly at bed-side and

find them very interesting as they stir up

many memories of my life in service.

They also bring much sadness for those

who did not return. I love the cap and and

wear it proudly. As I was looking

through some of my “buried” treasures,

though not forgotten, I came upon a pic-

ture from Brooklyn Personel Office that

I have enclosed of a small group of us at

work. I had a copy made for you. On the

back are names and addresses of that

time that you may be interested in. That’s

me with the arrow in the left rear. I hope

you will have better luck than I did in

reading some of their handwriting. (I

didn’t-cal)

Also, in my search, I located one of the

original issues of the POINTER which I

have included for you. I guess they were

issured periodically and probaly the rea-

son that I clung to it, it has a picture of me

as a weight lifting champion in the 148

pound class taken about 3 years before

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

enlistment. I met with Art Fazzone at the

meeting and lunch on Feb. 27th and then

today. It’s nice to get together. Art and his

wife are very nice and they do a wonder-

ful job. As I mentioned on the phone to

you how Art and I worked together for

about three years and neither of us men-

tioned we were in the Armed Guard. Is

that not incredible!!! It happens that the

Lake George NE Reunion was men-

tioned and we are going to try and make

it. It was great talking with you on the

phone and again THANKS so much for

what you sent me.

Dominic Colello Y2c 10 Garling Dr.,

Latham, NY 12110 518-785-9555

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Ed Neville of 26 Crane St. Avon, Ma02322 sent me a photo of Aug. 16, 1943 withthe names of Ali; Marty; Roy; George;John and Ed. I get many pictures that Idon’t have room to put in but there wassomething about this photo showing com-radery, happiness and joy of a crew onLiberty. I hope another sees his smile or youmay have known one of them in the past.(cal)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

To locate a book: If you know the name

of the book, go to GOOGLE and type

in the name and search. TRY YOUR

LOCAL BOOKSTORE.

B o o k s :

“UNSUNG SAILORS” by Justin

Gleichauf ISBN 15575O42O2

NAVAL INSTITUTE

“MARITIME” as told by men who

lived them by Al D’Agostino &

Willard Byrd

ISBN 978-1-4251-2348-2

Tel: 1-888-232-4444

WWW.TRAFFORD.COM/10510

“BATTLE of the ARCTIC SEAS” by

Theodore Taylor ISBN 10:1-4027-

5123-3 800-805-5489

specialsales@sterlingpub.com

“TWO YEARS BEHIND THE

MAST” Harold J. McCormick(Out

of print)ISBN 0-89745-138-4

“HELL-BENT FOR ADVEN-

TURE” by Jack Mahaney ISBN 1-

4184-4079-5

“GOOD SHIPMATES” by Ernest F.

Imhoff 800-711-8985 ISBN 978-1-

8899O1-39-8

“THE ATLANTIC CAMPAIGN”

by Dan Van Der Vat ISBN O-6-

O15967-7

“THE TANKERS” A to Z by Walter

W.Jappee Glencannon Press 800-711-

8985

“BLUE JACKET ODYSSY” by Wm.

L. McGee ISBN 1-889901-05-9 800-

7118985

“A CARELESS WRD” by Capt Art

Moore Library of Congress Card No.

82-73552

“SHIPS of the ESSO FLEET in

World War II. Standard Oil Co

(NEW JERSEY)

“OCEANS of LOVE” (WW I letters)

by B.J Bryan ISBN 1-4120-6875-4

“THE PLANE SHOOTER” (AGS-

CAMP SHELTON, VA) Out of Print

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Ali, Marty, Roy, George, John and Ed.Page 9

Armed Guard Office –1944

Page 10

“PACIFIC LEGACY” Rex Smith-

Gerald Meehl ISBN 0-7892-0761-3

“NAVIES OF WORLD WAR II” by

Anthony Preston ISBN 0 86124-O71-5

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Snelling Story

Charles,

Thank you for the Jan/Apr 2008

"POINTER". I have read it from cover

to cover and it reminded me of my time in

the Armed Guard. 1944-46. I volun-

teered for the Navy when I was 17 so they

allowed me to graduate from high school

after I was 18. Three days after gradua-

tion, I was off to BOOT CAMP at

Farragut, Idaho.

America was not doing too well in the

Pacific at that time and I was sent to San

Diego, California for gunnery school.

When that was complete, I went Treasure

Island Ca. which became my home base.

In about three weeks, I was assigned to a

freighter, the S.S. CAPE CUMBER-

LAND, in a 11-man gun crew with a

Lieutenant in charge. My position was

Sight Setter on the 3"50 antiaircraft gun.

We stood watch for subs but our planes

had almost eliminated the sub danger

along the Pacific Coast of the USA. The

Moore McCormick Line ship was head-

ed for the Panama Canal and on to New

Orleans, La. to get a new bottom welded

on after damage on a reef in the South

Pacific. The three months in dry dock

netted us the pay while we were free to go

home -- at our own expense---"IF" we

could afford it. None of us, except the

Texas sailors, could do that so we

explored New Orleans. Power was shut

off to our ship but some of us stayed

aboard, finding our own meals in the

greasy spoon joints around the ship-

yards. With repairs complete, we set sail

for Houston, Texas and loaded with

sacked wheat. Also, the fresh water tanks

were filled with water that had a strong

sulfur taste and it made me itch after each

shower. A four ship convoy was made up

and we headed for Norfolk, Va. with two

destroyers and one cruiser as escorts. The

German subs were concentrating on the

East entrance of the Panama Canal, so

our escorts were kept busy dropping

depth charges all around us. We were

called out for General Quarters several

times but did not see any subs.

At Norfolk, Va., we were placed in a big

convoy with a lot of escorts to cross the

Atlantic. The first eight days, we did not

make much headway during an 80 mile

an hour gale. The only place we could

stand watch was on the bridge as the

decks were always under water, washing

from side to side. The main fear was the

possibilty of colliding with another ship

ahead of us or from the side.Total black-

out was enforced and we had some near

misses. Some life rafts were torn off from

the ships ahead of us and came floating

by. After the sea calmed down, we could

stay in our bunks without trying to sleep

and hanging on at the same time. The

Armed Guard had our own mess hall

with a stewart assigned to us. He was an

old hand in the Merchant Marine and

ofter gave us a choice of what we wanted

to eat. Somewhere in mid-Atlantic, we

received news that Germany had surren-

dered and in a few days, we met a convoy

headed for America. One of the ships had

German POWs and they turned around

and joined our convoy to return them

back to Germany.

When we got to the Mediterranean, the

convoy broke up with ships going to dif-

ferent ports and we continued on to Sicily.

For several days, we anchored just off the

island and were greeted by "BUM

BOATS" begging for American ciga-

rettes. Orders finally came to proceed to

a small city on the Eastern side of Italy

called Bari. It had suffered a lot of bomb

damage and were starving. The steve-

dores were eating handfuls of the wheat

whenever a sack would break open.

Orders after unloading were at first to

load un-used bombs there and take them

to the Pacific. That was changed and we

were sent back empty to New York.

While the ship was being loaded with

farm machinery for India under the

Marshall Plan, the Armed Guard were

taken off and granted leave to go home. I

made good my 30 day leave by getting

engaged to my high school sweetheart in

Yakima, Washington.

August 7, 1945, I reported to my home

base on Treasure Island and was sent to

the Navy Transportation and

Distribution Center, Camp Shoemaker,

Ca.. This hot, dry desert, somewhere east

of San Francisco, certainly didn't seem

like the Navy to me. When the war ended

with Japan, we wanted to go to San

Francisco to celebrate , but our request

was denied. The war was over and we

thought we ought to be discharged, but

we were to fill in for those who had been

in service longer than we had. Orders

came out for 600 of us to board the USS

LIVINGTON (AKA-222) for the South

Pacific. No one seemed to be in charge

and we did not know where we were

going. After two weeks, we pulled into

Subic Bay in the Phillipine Island. Our

sea bags were dumped onto the beach

and we were told to find them and carry

them to some Quonset huts. For two or

three weeks, we drank purified swamp

water and checked the bulletin board for

further orders.

My name came up to report to an LST

loaded with Caterpillar tractors and

earth movers; again not knowing where

we were going. That was some awesome

experience as we passed Okinawa one

night in a cyclone and no assurance we

were going to make it. Water was wash-

ing back and forth on the deck of the side

compartment where I was trying to sleep

on an Army cot. I could see and hear the

steel plates bending as we went over the

swells or waves. The Cat drivers went

down below and sat on the tractor seats

with life jackets on and holding each

other's arm. After we were anchored in

the bay off Tokyo and found a place on

the beach where we could open the bow

doors on the LST, it did not take long to

unload. The Cat drivers were so relieved

to be on dry land, they put their tractors

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Page 11

in high gear and roared out with few

inches to spare on each side. Their job

was to clear the air fields of bomb dam-

age so our planes could land.

After a few more days at anchor in the

harbor, I was transferred to the deck crew

of a Liberty ship bound for Guam.

When we got to the dock space there, we

worked six hours unloading 55 gallon

barrels of high octane airplane gasoline.

Those barrels had been aboard so long

that some had rusted through and were

empty. The heat was terrible and there

was a fear that there could be a fire down

in the hold. Our ship was sent through

the Marshall Islands, picking up small

detachments of troops headed for Seattle

for discharge.These men were so glad to

be back in America that they left their

packs, blankets and other gear in the

holds and we had to clean them out. The

weather seemed very cold in December

of 1945 at Seattle after the heat in the

South Pacific.

Just when I thought that I would be dis-

charged, they assigned me to the crew of

the USS PC-614 at Pier 54. We were to

decommission it and two other patrol

craft tied alongside. At least I got to take

the bus to Yakima some weekends and we

began to make plans for our wedding.

What a low blow it was we were

transferred to a troopship being loaded

with three hundred tons of food and sup-

plies for overseas. As we went down the

coast to San Francisco, orders came to

throw all the ammo stored in the below

decks in the bow. It was a hand-to-hand

detail and one slip with a dropped round

could bring on a tragedy. In San

Francisco, the orders were changed to

another decommission job. Fresh food

was dumped on a garbage barge as well as

a lot of new supplies. Barrel after barrel

of expensive machinery went over the

side into the bay. Anything sent back to

the Navy Depot in Oakland had to be

invoiced with six copies and the yeoman

just did not have time to do it all. What a

waste!! But, our government had signed

agreements that these supplies would not

flood the civilian market after the war.

Now!! Finally, a bus ride back to Seattle

and a ferry to the Separation Center at

Bremerton where I received my dis-

charge in June of 1946. I went home to

Yakima to be married on June 22, 1946.

Charlie, I want to THANK YOU for the

Jan/Apr 2008 "POINTER" and the

closing article., "THE SCARS OF

HIROSHIMA." While reading about

the bombing, I suddenly realized that I

was issued "olive drab gear" in Camp

Shoemaker and was scheduled to run the

landing craft at the invasion of Japan. If

the bombs had not been used to bring

about the surrender of the Japanese, I

would have been in the final battle on

their home islands, but God spared me

for a purpose. I have been blessed by

being a pastor for 56 years. After seeing

the needs of the people around the world,

I felt called to do what I could to help

them. My family is not wealthy, but I

could give my life in Thy service and I

did. My high school sweetheart and I

lived on the "GI Bill" while going to col-

lege and seminary and reared five chil-

dren over the years. Thank you again for

the "POINTER."

Rev. Ronald B. Snelling 16217 - 131st Ave

E Puyallup, Wa. 98374

*****

Thank you Reverend for such a sweet letter.We, of the WW II service, are all thankfulfor Harry Truman's decision. Harry was inWW One and he knew this was the way toend the war. I am sure he knew the feeling toget home as fast as possible. (cal)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Charlie, I was at Bourne Academy

and the S.S. BLACKPOINT CREW

monument is still there. and looking

good. Enclosed is a picture.

Gerry Greaves

1287 S Broadway,

E. Providence, RI 02914

4o1-431-0011

**********

(Gerry served the S.S. AQUARIUS, S.S.GEORGE A.POPE and the S.S. CLAY-MONT (V) and has been the head of theRhode Island AG Chapter over 25 years.)(cal)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Subject: SS Carlton - March 13, 1942 to

July 5, 1942

My name is Robert E. Thompson,

Gunners Mate 3/C. I was in the U.S.

Navy Armed Guard, WW II from

February 1942 to November 1945. In

March 1942, I was assigned aboard the

merchant ship S.S. CARLTON, a Hog

Islander, which was docked in

Philadelphia loading war materials.

The CARLTON sailed Friday, 13

March 1942, bound for Murmansk,

Russia. We finally arrived at

Hvalfiord, Iceland, after a grueling

voyage on the North Atlantic, to await

a convoy to Russia. We were one of the

ships that comprised Convoy PQ-16.

When the convoy was within range of

the German airfields in Norway we

were attacked by many aircraft. The

CARLTON was damaged by four

bombs from a dive bomber that hit

within five feet of the ship causing seri-

ous damage that left us dead in the

water with no power. We were taken to

tow by a British trawler, (HMS)

NORTHERN SPRAY, to return to

Iceland for repairs.

We next sailed in Convoy PQ-17 with

36 ships. On 4 July 1942, the Convoy

was dispersed (scattered) by order of

the British to make our way singly to

Russia. At 0810 on 5 July, the CARL-

TON was torpedoed and sunk by a

German submarine. Three men were

lost and the crew was away in one

lifeboat and four 10-man rafts. Several

hours later a flight of German torpedo

aircraft (twin pontoon) flew over look-

ing for the stray ships. We were very

concerned as rumors abounded that

survivors were being machine gunned

in lifeboats. On the return flight, one

aircraft let the formation and landed.

It picked up one Merchant Seaman.

Later a German flying boat landed and

took on 10 Merchant Seamen. Several

hours later the plane returned and nine

Armed Guard were picked up. We

only agreed to be taken as one member

was badly burned and needed medical

attention. We were flown into

Kirkines, Norway to a Russian

Prisoner of War Camp. We were sub-

sequently transported to Germany

where we spent two years, nine months

in various POW Camps. The mer-

chant men were considered civilian

internees and were in a separate camp

from the Navy. The Carlton crew was

the first American Prisoners of War in

Germany. Only eleven ships survived

Convoy PQ-17. Twenty-five were

sunk. Seventeen men who were not

picked up spent 19 days in the open

lifeboat, one man died. They were cap-

tured after landing in Norway.

Robert E. Thompson, Gunners Mate

3/C, U. S. Navy Armed Guard, WW II

7049 Regner Road,

San Diego, CA 92119-1941

Tele: 619-465-63

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Dear Mr. Lloyd,

I've read the magazine - it's amazing.

How do you find that incredible story

of Giorgio Perlasca? To tell you the

truth, I didn't know Roosevelt was try-

ing to establish relations between

Russia and the USA in such a way. And

of course I didn't know anything about

a treasure ship! A fantastic story

indeed!

Yours, Alex.

*********

Alex is a Russian friend that I have beencorresponding with for some time who isinterested in the History of WW II and I doappreciate the photos he has sent of theMemorial there commemorating apprecia-tion for the Convoys that brought them muchneeded supplies. As I look at his personalphoto, I see a human being like myself and ofmy own family and think what could havebeen if our ancestors would also have beenkilled during the war. There would not be a

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Monument to Allied Forces Alex infront of the MonumentPage 12

boy like Alex nor my own children, grandchildren, great grand children and childrento come. War is so cruel. He looks like anyAmerican Boy and so many of his country-men have migrated to the United States inthe past and made this country what it istoday. So many young men like him havedied useless. Why? It is just not right. Russialoss over 27 million people in WW II.What a heartbreak for so many mothers andfathers and loved ones. WHY?(calloyd)P.S. Alex will be attending Westfield Highin Westfield, IN this semester. I’m in touchwith the folks he’ll be staying with.

*********

Dear Mr. Lloyd,

Thanks for the magazine you've send

me. I found it today in my post box.

Well, it's hard to imagine really that it

travelled through all the countries

between Russia and USA only with a

sticker with my address! The photo on

the front page with US cadets carrying

Armed Guards and Merchant Marines

banners is amazing. Started reading it

right now.

I'm going to visit my Granny this sum-

mer; so I cannot keep in touch for about

a month as she lives in a village where

there is no Internet connection. On June

22 I'll go to St.Petersburg for a pre-

departure orientation program and to

take the US visa. After that I'll take a

train to Ukraine where my Granny lives.

She was 9 years old when German forces

occupied the area. She told me a lot bout

the War. Her two brothers were at war -

one in infantry (died in 1942) and one in

tank platoon (participated in battle for

Stalingrad and was

wounded). That's why the Second

World War is not only history but also

a part of her life.

Yours, Alex

P.S. I enclose a photo of mine(in front of

the monument to Allied Forces, May 9)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Paul G. Mueller Story and another on pg.36At Noumea on November 1, a terrific

explosion occurred at the base of one of

the Finger Piers at 1305. The S.S.

Turner was at anchor about 800 yards

distant. Steel fragments fell into the

bay around the Turner. One piece

formed a collar around the forward

mast. I was blown out of a chair into the

bulkhead by the concussion coming

through an open port hole at my back

in my cabin. I ran out onto the deck

adjacent to my cabin and the mate on

the bridge ordered me back inside. I

obeyed after glancing into the sky and

seeing small black objects falling.

Later, when I looked at the deck, it was

pock marked from the falling debris.

Obviously the mate had saved my life.

A supply of explosives on the dock was

the source of the explosion. One of the

ships at the dock had to break her lines

to get free of the dock .

On November 2 1943, the Turner

departed from Noumea escorted by a

sub chaser. We arrived at Suva in the

Fiji's on November 5 and moored at

Kings Wharf . She commenced taking

on cargo immediately. We loaded

ammunition and aerial bombs. On

November 16, we took departure with a

cargo of 5371 short tons of ammunition,

bombs, and trucks and proceeded to

Lautoka, Fiji where we arrived the

same day. There, we loaded an addition-

al cargo of bombs, trucks and boats

making a total cargo of 6272 short tons.

On November 22, 8 officers and 126

enlisted men, Army of the 13th air-

drome squadron and one Pharmacist

Mate came aboard for passage to

Guadalcanal via Espiritu Santo.

November 23, we departed Lautoka

escorted by the USS Radiant (YMS99)

and by the PBY-5 which scouted

around the ship until after darkness

came. At 1830 on November 24, our

stern lookout reported sighting an

object out of the corner of his eye at

relative bearing 170 degrees and 200

yards range. He wasn't sure whether it

was a fish or a periscope .The area was

watched and at 1840 the escort look

out reported sighting some thing sus-

picious in the same direction. The

escort dropped astern to investigate .

At 1915 the escort made a definite

under water contact 200 yards a stern

of us and dropped a number of depth

charges in two different runs. After the

second run, the escorts Captain stated a

large oil patch came to the surface.This

attack took place in the Latitude 16

degrees 14'south, Longitude 170

degrees 33'East. At 0200 a US plane

arrived to assist the escort and to scout

the area of the attack. At day break

other planes arrived for escort.

At 1605 November 25, we arrived at

Espiritu Santo New Hebrides and

anchored in Pallakula Bay to await the

formation of a convoy for Guadalcanal.

December 4 at 0812, we took departure

from Pallakula Bay and joined a con-

voy consisting of the S.S. Ashley , ( A

liberty EC2 vessel) and the S.S.

Thunderer escorted by the USS Eaton

(DD510) and the USS Osterhaus

(DE164). At 1609 the same day we

were joined by USS

Serpens(AK97EC2) , USS Alchiba

(AKEC2) S.S. Cape Blanco and the

S.S.Thomas J. Walsh escorted by USS

Acre(DE167, USS Velocity(AM128)

and SC 1046. The convoy reached

Guadalcanal 0800 December 7, 1943.

The vessel was then ordered to Purvis

Bay to await orders. On December 11,

we proceeded to Tenaru Beach escort-

ed by the SC 518. The passengers were

disembarked and some cargo was dis-

charged. At 1930 we proceeded to

Kukum Bay where all the cargo was

discharged at the dock . On December

20 we left Kukum Dock and proceeded

to Purvis Bay to await orders . On the

way there was an air alert due to a num-

ber of Japanese planes approaching

Tulagi from the North .The planes

turned back before reaching Tulagi.

On December 22 we left Purvis Bay,

Florida Island and joined a convoy con-

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Page 13

Page 14

sisting of USS Pawnee ( Ocean Going

Tug No.74), USS Octans (Navy

Transport), S.S. Rose (Cargo Ship) S.S.

Thunderer, S.S. Curtis, escorted by

USS Sheldrake (MS-62), USS Swallow

(MS65) and one other mine sweeper

.We arrived at Espiritu Santo on

December 25 .and sailed from there for

San Francisco on December 26 in com-

pany with S.S. Skinner and S.S.

Thunderer escorted by the EC669. We

passed through the gate in the subma-

rine nets guarding San Francisco Bay at

1015 January 17 1944. The mileage on

this voyage was 17,200. Average speed

was 10.2 knots. It is peculiar to note that

my next sea duty was on the USS Eider

(YNG20). The vessel that was anchored

to the bottom of the San Francisco Bay,

between The Golden Gate Bridge and

Alcatraz that had the winch that opened

and closed the sub marine nets that

guarded San Francisco Bay + A lot of

the material above was garnered from a

report to the Chief of Naval Operations

from The Assistant Port Director of San

Francisco on January 29, 1944.

Paul G. Mueller

9200 Stone Spring Ln.,

Pasadena, Ca. 21122

410-916-1274 PGM6251@CS.com

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

From Beryls Story pg. 7The day I met a Liberty ship.

The story about the Richard

Montgomery has special meaning for

me as I lived in Southend on Sea, for the

first 22 years of my life and many times

would see her masts when we would go

on trips up the Thames, fully aware of

the fact of how she could blow at any

time.

The one thing I did not know was that

she was a Liberty ship. The first time I

ever saw a Liberty ship was in June

1994, at Chatham where my daughter

and I were living. We had been hearing

of all the ships that had come from

America to take part in the commemo-

ration of D Day and how they had

come into Southampton and were pre-

sented to the Queen. I remember hear-

ing on the news about a ship that was

crewed by veterans. So there was this

exhibition in the dock of military and

historic vehicles where I lived, so

Maria and I decided to go. We had

gone through this tent that was set up

as an English kitchen in the 40‚s but I

was shocked to see how many of the

things I remembered having in ours.

As we went through we came out the

other side and there looming up in

front of us was this American ship, the

Liberty Ship, SS Jeremiah O‚Brien. It

was a magnificent sight. We both had

never seen anything so beautiful. Up

the gangway we went and it was as if we

had stepped back in history. She was so

well preserved and the music that we

heard was of the big bands of the 40s.

We had to come back the next day to

see the engine room, as it was so

crowded. Now on that day, I met Ed

and he was the first American I had

ever met. He told us everything about

the engines and when we first got to see

them, words cannot describe the way I

felt. Ed told us the ship was leaving

for London in the morning and we

promised we would be there to wave

her goodbye.

Next morning we were there and she

was ready to go. Ed had asked if we

could go aboard and make the trip up

to London with him. The answer he

gave was that if we were on board when

the gang way was taken up, then we

couldn‚t get off. So there we were, on

the Liberty Ship and no way to get off.

I felt I should keep pinching myself to

make sure this was not a dream. Here I

was on a ship the same age as me, and

talking with my first American. Then

we went to the engine room and that

sight took my breath away. The power-

ful "triple expansion engines," as they

had been many years before. The very

heart of the ship brought back to life

and beating. I just wanted to stay there

and take it all in. Now this is the part of

my story that has a very special mean-

ing to me. Quite a few hours had gone

by and I was still in the engine room.

We heard the horn blow and the reason

was to pay tribute to the sunken S.S.

Richard Montgomery, the sister

Liberty Ship. This was such an emo-

tional moment I had a lump in my

throat. I will never ever forget that day.

It was something that will never hap-

pen again and I have so much gratitude

to Ed for letting me be a part of it. I

shall leave my little story with the

words of one of the crew on board the

SS Richard Montgomery all those

years ago. He said, “If that if this ship

was hit by a torpedo, they wouldn‚t

need a life jacket but a parachute.”

How often I have wondered if any of

the crew is out there, as I would love to

meet them.

Beryl Lingenfield 55410 Delta Dr.,

Blue River, Or. 97413 541-822-3760

beryllingenfield@q.com (wife of

Edgar (MM) who sailed on S.S. Sea

Sturgeon, Fort Henry, Crater Lake,

Alcoa Pilgrim and the Frank G.

Drum.)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

See Photo and Caption on Page 2

***********Abbott said it was worth the trip to be there torepresent all the Armed Guard who made theNorth Atlantic Convoys during WW II. Bobmade the Murmansk Run on the Liberty ShipS.S. GREYLOCK and the ship was sunk inthe Barents Sea on it’s return to New York witha complement of 36 Merchant Crew, 25 NavalArmed Guard and 9 passengers survivors fromthe S.S. BALLOTT. There were no casual-ties. Abbott survived the sinking of the S.S.ALBERT GALLATIN on July 2, 1944.Luck was with the crew again as there were nocasualties. Abbott’s luck continues as he com-pleted his round of Chemo several days beforehis trip to Iceland. He wore his cap to hide hisscars. (cal)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

LETTERS FROM THE CREW

We may not all be able to be heroes but this is a time for

courage and that is the stuff of heroes. ((I wrote this after the

Houston/Galveston/Beaumont/Orange, TX. USS VESOLE

Reunion. The USS Vesole was built at Orange – a great event

for any number of reasons. Audie Murphy ranks alongside

Kopl Vesole and my brother Vaughn Yeater - who was at Anzio

when Audie was there as the top three in my list of Heroes.

We are going to be in Washington, DC before too long. My

brother won’t be at Arlington National Cemetery. Kopl Vesole

won’t be at Arlington Cemetery. But Audie Murphy will be.

He can stand in for the others. Audie Murphy’s gravesite is the

second most visited gravesite at Arlington next to that of John

F. Kennedy. Add Audie Murphy’s gravesite to your list to visit.

Audie Murphy was one of those naturals that show up in bat-

tlefield conditions occasionally. He performed as the occasion

warranted probably just knowing what needed to be done and

then operating in a zone to get it done. He physically wasn’t a

big man and his medals pretty well covered his frame. He did

something few CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF

HONOR winners get a chance to do. He wrote about his expe-

riences and he acted in the movie based on his book of experi-

ences; “TO HELL AND BACK” was that movie. The title

was appropriate for the book and for the movie. I doubt if he

thought of it that way. He fought in the Anzio Beachhead in

Italy and then on into France. He was some twenty years old

and he was from Texas. His picture is included along with

other heroes on display at the Capitol Building in Austin,

Texas.

Rudy Kasprzyk ET2 ‘54-’57 and I went on a road trip prior to

the USS VESOLE DD/DDR-878 Reunion in Houston on

October 6, 2004. Our first stop was Austin and the Capitol

Building which was impressive. There was a display area of

heroes/medal winners and though I knew Audie Murphy was

from Texas, which was not on my mind when I was looking and

found his picture and information. Later I decided to do some

research since I thought there would be others of us who

would appreciate the credentials of this American hero.

Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in World War

II having received some twenty-eight United States medals

with the Congressional Medal of Honor being one of those-

for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life

above and beyond the call of duty”. He received five awards

from Great Britain and from France. In his three years of active

duty from ’42 to ’45 Audie Murphy went from Army Private to

Staff Sergeant and then received a battlefield commission as a

2nd Lieutenant. He was wounded three times, fought in nine

major campaigns in the European Theater of battle. He was a

legend within the 3rd Army Division and was credited with

killing over 240 of the enemy, capturing and wounding many

more of the enemy. In a hard war he did what he was there to do

to the best of his ability. His mix of attributes and capabilities

put him in a unique and lasting place in the history of battle in

this country. For all kinds of reasons it is unlikely that there

will be another soldier with his accomplishments. He starred

in twenty-seven films out of 44 feature films and in 1955

played himself in his previously mentioned autobiographical

“To Hell and Back” from his best-seller book and that became

the highest grossing picture until 1975’s “Jaws”. He played a

Union solder in “Red Badge of Courage” considered one of his

best movie roles. (Note: rjy. After returning from the reunion

in Houston, I was browsing on the TV and found “Red Badge

of Courage” on TCM. One particularly poignant scene was of

Audie Murphy in his character’s role picking up the Union bat-

tle-flag from a fallen flag-bearer and charging the enemy.

Then he came upon a wounded and dying Confederate soldier

carrying their battle-flag so he had both the Union and the

Confederate battle-flags while still charging the

enemy/Confederate troops in the midst of the battle. In the

Civil War many soldiers received the Medal of Honor for

picking up the colors and rallying the troops to fight by charg-

ing the enemy or maintaining rank, the battle-flags being used

to signal the center of battle in those days. Many of them lost

their lives that way. And of course, as I indicated Audie

Murphy was the recipient of the Congressional Medal of

Honor. In his case it was art mimicking his life experience to a

certain extent.). He played Jesse James in his last film, “A

Time For Dying”. He had other business interests including

writing songs, which were sung by top performers, as a ranch-

er and as a horse breeder. He played poker and gambled win-

ning and losing fortunes. He was very public regarding his

personal difficulty with the aftermath of “Battle Fatigue”

which we now know as PTS (Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome)

being plagued by depression and difficulty in sleeping. He

was a major advocate for extending health care in that area for

returning Korean and Vietnam War veterans. Audie Murphy

owned and flew his own plane. But not this time. A private

plane in which he was a passenger pursuing a business venture

crashed in the rain and fog into the side of a mountain near

Roanoke, Virginia killing five other passengers including the

pilot. It was Memorial Day in 1971. He was 46 years of age.

He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He was buried

with full military honors. His is the second most visited

gravesite after President Kennedy’s.

We may not all be able to be heroes but this is a time for

courage and that is the stuff of heroes.

AUDIE MURPHY OF TEXAS

By Roy Yeater, 3616 Decatur Ave N, New Hope Mn. 55427 763-546-9331

Page 15

Page 16

REUNIONS

The TEXAS USN ARMED GUARD

ANNUAL Reunion will be held again in

Fredericksburg, Tx. March 5-7, 2009 at

the SUNDAY HOUSE 5O1 E. Main

St. 1-800-274-3762. Host-John Shirley,

4128 N. Summerset Loop, Round Rock,

Tx. 78681 512-671-3464.

The NORTHEAST MINI-

REUNION will be held Sept. 22-25,

2008 back at the GEORGIAN

HOTEL Lake George NY.. All regis-

tration, and Itineray Forms for your 3

night package deal MUST be handled

by: Jody Woodin, Dir. Of Sales, 384

Canada St., Lake George, N.Y. 12845 1-

518-668-5401 info@georgianresort.com

The hosts are Art and Marion Fazzone,

3936 Albany St., Schenectady, N.Y.

12304-4371. 518-374-5377

Mamoon3@aol.com IF all goes well,

Hilda and I will be at this one! ( Cal )

The USS VESOLE DD/DDR-878 was

named after Armed Guard Ensign Kay

K. Vesole killed in action at Bari, Italy

tragedy, 8/28/44. Contact: Ray

Gorenflo, 32 Charlotte, Rd., Fishkill,

N.Y. 12524 845-896-2074

www.USSVesole.org This is the only

FLEET SHIP named after an Armed

Guard that I am aware of that hold reunions.

Reunion is Sept 25-29, 2008 in D.C..

SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY

MARINERS /ARMED GUARD

MEET 2ND WEDNESDAY OF

EACH MONTH AT 12 NOON at

HOSS‘S Restaurant at 5O1 and Airport

Rd., Lititz, Pa.. Contact: Clarence

W.Newcomer (AG) 238 Colebrook St.,

Manheim, Pa 17545 717-665-3085 or

Wm. Balabanow, 717-569-0391 b.bala-

banow@verizon.net All ARE WEL-

COMED!!

THE BUCKLEY , WA. Contact:

Hank and Sandy Harrison 27014 Lower

Burnett Rd., E. Buckley, 98321 36O-

897-9381. Henry058@hughes.net or

Bng75@aol.com They still meet 2nd

Wed. of each mo. at 12 noon at

ELMER’S 7427 Hosmer, Tocoma, Wa.

98408-1220 253-473-0855.

LST CREW 23rd ANNUAL

REUNION will be held Aug 29-Sept 2,

2008 at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel,

Arlington, Va in the Washington, D.C.

area. ($77.00 plus tax.) CONTACT:

Mike and Linda Gunjak, 6641 Spring

Beauty Ct. Curtice, Oh. 43412 1-8OO-

228-5870 E-Mail: uslst@uslst.org Web

Site. www.uslst.org

Los Angles/San Fernando Valley Armed

Guard/Merchant Marine WW II

Veterans invites you to break bread

together on the 3rd Saturday of each

month, 11 AM-1 PM for Food, Stories

and Laughter at COCO’s 10841

Sepulveda Blvd. Mission Hills, Ca.

91345. Contact: Pete C. Sorensen, 13852

Tucker Ave., Sylmar, Ca. 91342 818-

367-7763 armedguardpete@yahoo.com

No dues.

NOTICE THE MEETING PLACE

CHANGE AGAIN.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. AREA ARMED

GUARD and MERCHANT SEA-

MEN of WW II contact John Shevlin 37

Winfield Rd., Rochester, N.Y. 14622-2212

585-467-2O57 Joan Lucci or Frank

Hutter 585-473-8103 for a LUNCH

MEETING held at 11 AM on the "2ND"

TUESDAY at the "JAYS DINER” 2612

W HENRIETTA RD. ROCHESTER,

NY, or; Forest Lane, 14 Hanna Ln

Webster, NY 14580 585-671-5687

COOLFOREST@webtv.net

PHILADELPHIA-DELAWARE

VALLEY PA. AREA Armed Guard

AND Merchant Marine Veterans and

their ladies MEETING HAVE BEEN

CHANGED TO THE 2ND Tuesday of

the month at 11:3O A.M. at the “OLD

COUNTRY BUFFET” in the Oxford

Valley Center, 650 Commerce Blvd.,

Fairless, Pa 19030 215-295-9858 Peter J.

Cugasi, 55 Indian Red Rd., Levittown, Pa

19057 215-547-2450 as Hosts. So sad to

hear of the passing of Allen Farrara who

started this chapter.

CORRECTION 2008 SUMMER

Greater Portland, OR. Armed Guard

meets with the Oregon Chapter AMMV

every 3rd Monday, 11:3O AM at

"HOMETOWN BUFFET", 135OO

SW PACIFIC HWY (99W) TIGARD

MARKET PL., TIGARD, OR. Contact

Bill Marker, 8995 SE Otty Rd, Portland,

Or. 97O86 503-998-0840

The "Rhode Island Chapter" of ARMED

GUARD VETERANS NEXT "LUN-

CHEON MEETING" on OCTOBER

2, 2008 at NOON at BICKFORDS

Jefferson Blvd., Warwick. R.I.

Contact:GERRY Greaves 1287 S.

Broadway, E. Providence, RI, 02914 401-

431-0011. USNAGV@AOL.COM

PLEASE NOTICE!! MANY ADDRESSES, TEL.#, E-MAILS, Etc. may change anytime so it ’s up to you to find out! 3/2008

REGIONAL---MINI-REUNIONS ---GET-TOGETHERS-- MEMORIALS, ETC SUPPORT THESE LOCAL MEETINGS

W HEN CONTACTING HOTELS FOR NATIONAL OR MINI-REUNIONS, LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE USN ARMED GUARD WWII, OR;

THAT YOU'RE ATTENDING OUR REUNION.

Many of these are older meetings and addresses and may not be up to date. Not responsible for errors. (calloyd)

NOTICE: ANY CHANGES will be in the next POINTER IF NOTIFIED.

Roanoke, Va. South East Chapter has

changed meeting place to 12 NOON

2ND Friday of each mo. at the

FAMOUS ANTHONY’S 6499

Williamson Rd. Roanoke, Va.. Contact:

Bill Miller (AG) and Helen, 157

Houston Ave., Roanoke, Va. 24O12

54O-362-O576, or; Rocky Rhodes,

539O Merriman Rd. SW Roanoke, Va.

24O18 54O-772-7212

The Merchant Marine Western Region

will meet 9/28-30/08 at the Sands

Regency Hotel, Reno Nev.. Contact

Hank Cap 289 W 22nd St, Deer Park,

NY 667-3466

The Patrol Craft Sailors Assoc. are

schedule to hold their 22 Annual

Reunion in San Antonio, Tx. May 26-30,

2009. Contact Andy Coubrough, 4459

Birch Run Dr., Troy, Mi. 48098 248-

952-5656

DEMS 52nd National Reunion will be

June 5-6-7, 2009 at Edmonton, Alberta,

Canada. Contact: June Craig 780-777-

3428 junecraig@shaw.ca or Gerald

Sigrist 9o2-543-6763

adna.sigrist@ns.sympatice.ca

DESTROYER ESCORT ASSOCIA-

TION, INC. (DESA) 33rdt Annual

Convention will be held Sept. 7-11/2008

at the Drawbridge Inn im Ft. Mitchell,

Ky., right outside Cincinnati, Ohio.

Contact: Dori Glaser, P.O.Box 3448,

Deland, Fl. 32721-3448 1-800-603-3332

– D e s a d o r i @ c f l . r r . c o m .

www.desausa.org What a wonderful

paper they have. If you were Armed

Guard and transferred, join them,

TOO!! Thank you DESA for putting

our address in your DESA NEWS

AND PROTECTING US.

FARRAGUT STATE PARK-

ATHOL, IDAHO ANNUAL

REUNION-Sept. 6, 2008 One day and

night affair. Those camping or others,

stay as long as you like. Camping

Reservations-Call the Park 208-683-

2425 Ext 21. Reunion Coordinator-

Janice Lauer P.O. Box 2135 Hayden, Id.

83835 208-660-0660

janilauer@aol.com; or Bob Moore 208-

683-5707

CHANGED MEETING PLACE

AGAIN FLORIDA SUN COAST

Armed Guard and MM Crew meet on

the 2nd Sat. of the month at 11:30 A.M.

for LUNCH at KALLY K’s 3383 US-19

Spring Hill, Fl., 352-683-1364 one lot

south of Springhill Bowling Alley.

Contact: Bob Bouschor 73 Hickory

Branch Ln., Safety Harbor, Fl., 727 224-

9616 or Hal Conn 6625 W. SEVEN

River Dr. Crystal River, Fl. 34429 352-

795-6257. They meet Sept. 13, 2008.

S.S.JOHN W. BROWN PO Box 25846,

Highlandtown Sta., Baltimore, Md.

21224-O846 41O-558-O646. Sailing

dates:Sept. 6 & Oct 4, 2008. All

Chesapeake Living History Cruises.

S.S.JEREMIAH O’BRIEN, PIER 23,

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111

Call 415-544-0100.

www.ssjeremiahobrien.org

For more info. Sailing date Oct 11 and 12,

2008 FLEET WEEK ($150.)

S.S.LANE VICTORY address is

BERTH 94, P O BOX 629 SAN

PEDRO, CA. 9O733-0629 Tel. 31O-

519-9545 www.lanevictory.org. They

support the ship with summer cruises off

Catalina Island in memory of Merchant

Marine and Naval Armed Guard lost at

sea during time at war. Donations are Tax

Deductible with Fed. I.D. No. 33-

0083915. Volunteers are needed now and

in the future to those whoever reads this.

Sailing: Sept. 27-28, 2008. Photo ID

required. Carry on bags inspected. No

wheel chairs or baby strollers.

The Tucson Az. Armed Guard meets at:

THE OLD TIME KAFE 1425 W.

Prince Rd., Tucson 520-293-2324 at

10:30-12 noon 2nd Thurs. of each

month, Sept. thru May. Contact: Haskel

& Ruth Hargis 1625 W Ft. Lowell #25,

Tucson 85705 520-293-2422, or, Fred &

Pat Gustin 1221 E Clearwind Pl., Tucson,

Az. 520-825-7531 fgustin@comcast.net

S.S.AMERICAN VICTORY 7O5

Channelside Dr., Tampa, Fl. 336O9 813-

228-8769 NEXT SAILING DATE IS

11/8/08.

The Merchant Marine and Armed

Guard may hold their FINAL FINALE

next May 14-17, 2009 and sail her on the

16th. More in the Sept/Nov 2008

POINTER.

For all of you who hosts meetings of the

crew, please inform me if you still meet

and send me up-date on meeting to place

in a future POINTER. If you don’t up-

date the meetings. it will not be in--

PERIOD!! THEIR E-MAILS

CHANGES OFTEN!! Search older

POINTERS for hosts, meetings, time

and places. I AM NOT RESPONSI-

BLE FOR ANY ERRORS, if any be

listed. REMEMBER DO NOT USE

MY RALEIGH ADDRESS from the

old POINTERs or material or TELE-

PHONE NUMBER. Use the

RETURN ADDRESS ON THE

OUTSIDE THIS POINTER. LET

ME KNOW IF YOUR CREW INFO

NEEDS CHANGING NOW!

Also, If you want to start a Chapter in

your area, please advise as I can furnish

you names by zip code of those in your

area. Also, if you need labels. If you find

out that I have an Armed Guard on

HOLD and he is still around and inter-

ested, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

Remember: The USN ARMED

GUARD WEB SITE www.armed-

guard.com by the late Tom Bowerman

from Anniston, Al.

I want to thank all of you for your dona-

tions, it keeps the POINTER’s coming.

–Charles A.Lloyd- Chairman

Page 17

REUNIONS

Page 18

S.S. HENRY A. BACON

Page 19

THE FLIGHT OF OUR LIVES“The Flight of Our Lives”

April 10, 1945-U.S. Navy-

WWII-VPB 104 Squadron-

Second Tour-Crew 20

One of more then 67 - 2000

mile missions

Our day began at 0300 hours when the

duty person with his flashlight came

into our tent on Clark Field, Luzon in

the Philippines. He woke J.R. Opie

who was our Plane Captain, Aircraft

Mechanic and Gunner along with me,

William D. Richards Aircraft

Mechanic and top Turret Gunner. We

were both Aviation Machinist Mates

second class, having gone through

mechanics’ flight training at

Jacksonville Florida and Hutchinson,

Kansas together. We were practically

inseparable. After jumping into my

flight Suit and splashing water on my

face to clear out the cobwebs, we pro-

ceeded to make sure that the rest of our

crew was up and ready for a fast break-

fast in the mess hall. I don’t remember

what we had for breakfast, (probably

scrambled powdered eggs and some-

thing with toast), but we ate whatever it

was to sustain our bodies. After break-

fast and a quick duty stop we returned

to our tent. We then loaded our carry-

all bags with our Mae West life jackets,

38 revolvers, helmet, gloves, goggles,

wrist compasses. We made sure that we

also had our mechanics tool chests and

what ever else, perhaps a candy bar or

two. We grabbed our flight jackets and

went outside to an U.S. Army one-ton

truck for the trip out to the airstrip and

our PB4Y1 B24 Liberator (BuNo-

38761 parked on the airstrip.

Besides Opie and me, our crew consist-

ed of first radioman Bill Buckland,

radioman and starboard waist gunner

Henry Ketusky, first ordnance man

John Burton Jr., port waist gunner,

Michael Apalategui, bow turret gun-

ner, John W. French and the tail turret

gunner was Verner E. Elston Jr.

We all had our job to do in preflighting

the plane to make sure everything was

in order for our flight. Opie and I were

up on the wings, checking fuel and

making sure the fuel caps were locked.

Everything was checked to our satisfac-

tion prior to flight. The auxiliary

power unit was started so that controls,

switches, operation of bomb bay doors,

clean windshields and anything

mechanical could be checked. We

pulled the props through on each

engine prior to the Pilots coming

aboard to start them. While we were

busy doing these inspections and

checks, John Burton Jr. was busy

checking our bombs in the bomb bays.

The amount of ammunition for each

gun, the bomb sights or anything that

had to do with ordnance was checked.

The radio and radar men were checking

the operation of their gear. The turret

gunners checked the turrets for opera-

tion (no guns were fired). We made sure

our food and drink rations were on

board.

Our Pilot Plane Commander (PPC)

was Lieut. William E. Fulwider and

Co-Pilot this day was Lt. (jg), Harry

E. Nagle and our Navigator, Ensign

Lawrence E. Cook, (who traded

between Co-Pilot and Navigator) had

been at pilots briefing for the details of

our flight. They were brought out to

the plane and our checklists were gone

over item for item to make sure every-

thing had been checked. Our pilot

started the engines one at a time as Opie

and I stood by with fire extinguishers.

All of the controls were checked again,

the bomb bays were closed, and then we

were ready to taxi out to the strip for

take-off. Brakes were set and the

engines were revved high as the instru-

ments were given their last check before

take-off... Thumbs-up as the brakes

were released and we headed down the

runway and lifted off into a new day

with new experiences ahead.

We had taken off in the dark at about

0500 hours with nearly a full load,

about 3450 gallons of fuel and seven

bombs stacked in our bomb bay. We

had to gain altitude before heading over

the mountainous terrain below us. The

crew was being briefed as this altitude

was gained. Our mission was single

plane offensive search and reconnais-

sance. Our assignment was Sector 5B

(Patrol of the China Coast North to

Shanghai). We saw the sun break over

the horizon behind us as we headed

northwest over the Lingayen Gulf

headed toward China in our PB4Y-1 B-

24 Liberator Bomber. We dropped

down to approximately 400 feet and

flew to within 25 miles of the China

Coast near Swatow where we then

headed north. The K rations were

opened and We snacked on crackers

and cheese for the time being. We had

no enemy contact as we traveled up the

coast. Things seemed very quiet. We

were just about to end our sector

southeast of Shanghai before heading

back to base when an Enemy ship was

spotted. On closer examination it was

seen to be a Fox Tare Charlie, an enemy

ship in the 2,000-ton range which was

moving at a slow speed. Our Plane

Commander made the decision to

attack the Ship. We swung our plane

around and prepared for the run. The

rear bomb bay doors were opened. John

Burton Jr. had gone forward below the

flight deck to arm our bombs where he

would manually control the dropping

of the bombs. We dropped down to

about 200 feet and started our run. The

enemy ship was like a Sitting duck

waiting for us as we came in on our

bomb run. I was in the top turret and

strafed all the way in toward the enemy

ship when all of a sudden it appeared as

though the whole side of the ship lit up

as their guns were shooting toward us,

all at the same time. We realized that we

were in real trouble when both our pilot

and Co-pilot yelled over the intercom

that they had been hit by enemy fire.

Page 20

THE FLIGHT OF OUR LIVESThey then turned the plane violently

starboard to escape being more of a tar-

get causing further injury and possibly

being shot down, abandoning the bomb

run. John French in the nose turret let

us know he had also been wounded. We

had run into a gunboat waiting for us.

Opie and I both hit the flight deck

almost at the same time to survey the

pilot’s wounds. They seemed to be

superficial, not life threatening. Lt.

Nagle had grabbed a fire extinguisher

and was applying it to an electrical fire

behind the Auto Pilot and the IFF

which had been blown apart. I made

sure that the fuses were pulled on the

Auto Pilot and IFF.

Opie went to check on John French who

had said he was wounded. John was

trapped in the nose turret. Opie had to

manually crank and align the turret

from the outside before the door of the

turret would open.

When this was done, John got out and

he was sure glad to be free. His wounds

were superficial. The shell had gone

through the nose turret narrowly miss-

ing John’s cheek, spraying pieces of

plexiglass into his cheek and arm. It

then went through our hydraulic sys-

tem cutting our brake lines and spew-

ing hydraulic fluid all over the place,

giving John Burton a shower. The shell

then skirted in between the protective

armor plating in front of the Pilots,

then through four bunches of electrical

cables and expelled itself by tearing up

our IFF and Automatic Pilot system.

Opie then announced over the intercom

that no electrical switches should be

turned on as we were sitting on a time

bomb.

After freeing John French, Opie came

back into the bomb bay where I was

checking the source of where the 100-

octane fuel was coming from. We deter-

mined that the fuel was running down

the wing from our #1 and #2 main port

wing tanks that had been damaged by

the shells fired at us. We both then

went to work on our fuel transfer sys-

tem with the tools from our mechanics’

tool chest and working together we

were able to change the fuel lines and

start the reversal of fuel flow in the fuel

transfer system. We started transfer-

ring from #2 main port wing tank

because this seemed to have the most

damage. We began moving the fuel to

the cells of the #3 and #4 main star-

board wing tanks. After these tanks

were full, we would then switch to the

empty starboard bomb bay auxiliary

tank, which was still intact, if there were

enough fuel left in the damaged tanks.

While this was being done, the aviation

fuel was running down on us and into

the bomb bay from the port wing. The

fuel fumes were so strong in the cockpit

that our PPC (Fulwider) had to open

his side window to let enough fresh air

in to clear his lungs and allow the pilots

to breathe. He left the window open for

the time being until the fumes dissipat-

ed. Thank the good Lord the rear bomb

bay doors had remained open since the

start of Our bomb run otherwise the

build up of fumes would have been dis-

astrous. We were watching the fuel

gauges, checking them every few min-

utes to make sure we were transferring

from this damaged tank into the #3 and

#4 main wing tanks.

Our PPC gave permission for John

Burton Jr. to jettison our bombs. This

made our load close to fifteen hundred

pounds lighter. Opie and I had to man-

ually crank the front bomb bay doors

open, as the hydraulic system was no

longer working. Our port bomb bay

auxiliary tank had sustained a shell

coming through the fuselage, then

through the tank making it useless and

we had to jettison the tank. We made

sure the valves were shut off then the

fuel lines were disconnected. The

braces and metal straps were discon-

nected and the tank should have

dropped, but when the shell went

through the fuselage the metal had

been pressed into the tank like a large

rivet holding the tank from dropping.

We tried to push and shove but the tank

would not budge. I pried down on the

top of the tank with a bar while I stood

in the catwalk and it still would not

budge. We then had the pilot nose the

plane up as I pried down on the tank.

The tank dropped, I let go of the bar

and grabbed for the safety rope

stretched across the bomb bay while

Opie assisted by Bill Buckland, held

onto my belt keeping me safe from

falling into the China Sea. We then

cranked the front bomb bay doors

closed and cranked the rear doors half

way closed as the fuel was still running

from the wing into the Bomb Bay but

not as fast, this would still allow most

of the fumes to be drawn out of the

plane.

It seemed like it took forever since we

first started moving the fuel from the

#2 main inboard tank before all three

cells were empty. The flow of fuel into

the bomb bay from the port wing was

reduced considerably. We then trans-

ferred fuel from our still leaking #1

main tank on the port side into our

empty starboard bomb bay auxiliary

tank. The fuel stopped leaking into the

wing after a short time of transferring.

Perhaps the self-sealing tank had

sealed itself with fuel left in the tank.

Opie and I had been monitoring the

fuel gauges constantly throughout this

whole process. At this point we

changed the fuel transfer system back

to normal operation.

Opie and I had already stripped the

nose turret of its guns and ammunition

while the fuel was being transferred. A

meeting with the pilots at this point

concurred that we would have to jetti-

son every item not having to do with

our emergency flight back to base, if we

were to make it back at all. Our guns

were silenced when fuel fumes filled the

plane. They were no longer useful on

this flight as firing just one round

would have caused an explosion as the

fumes were still prevalent. The remain-

Page 21

THE FLIGHT OF OUR LIVESing guns went overboard first with their

ammunition and storage boxes. The top

turret and two waist hatches became

lookout stations for any danger.

We were not a good target for anyone as

we were flying very low to the water, as

ground effect would help us

to preserve fuel. We asked the crew to

bring anything not useable to the after

station so we could evaluate and dis-

pose of unusable items before throwing

them out. The radar had been shot also

so it went overboard as well as spare

radar and radio parts. Opie and I went

through the plane and removed all oxy-

gen bottles and equipment and dis-

posed of them. He even removed the

armor plating from the after station and

dumped it out. We stripped everything

that we could logically go without, for

weight reduction. The starboard auxil-

iary bomb bay tank would be jettisoned

after the fuel was transferred later into

the main tanks #3 and #4.

Ditching had been an option on this

flight since we were hit by the shells

and were losing so much fuel. As long

as the plane was still flying, we had to

get as far away from the enemy as possi-

ble. The longer we stayed in the air the

probability of ditching became less at

this point. Opie and I had gone over

ditching procedures many times with

our crew back at our base. All our

flights were over water and in case of an

emergency we had to be prepared for

ditching at any time. We discussed

what had to be done and by whom,

where the life rafts were located and

how they were released. Also, where the

emergency equipment was stored

between the life raft compartments.

Part of ditching is removing anything

loose that could fly around the plane as

it was hitting the water. This was done

as we were getting rid of everything for

weight reduction. We had no idea if we

could make it back to base with the fuel

we had left. Ditching was still a possi-

bility.

We had another job to tackle between

the two of us, Opie and myself. The job

for us was to repair the hydraulic brake

system if possible. We first checked the

tail turret hydraulic supply lines to see

if it were feasible. After deciding this

was possible, we then removed the

damaged hydraulic sections from the

brake system at their connection points.

These sections had been torn apart

when the shell went through. We went

back to the tail turret and drained what

hydraulic fluid we could save into a

container. Then we removed sections of

this dead soft annealed hydraulic tub-

ing that was long enough to repair the

brake system. To prevent any more

hydraulic fluid loss, we sealed the

remaining turret supply lines by fold-

ing and squeezing them shut. We then

went forward and fashioned these soft

annealed sections of hydraulic tubing

to fit into place. These were installed

and the connectors were tightened

repairing the damaged sections. Opie

then filled the brake fluid in the reser-

voir to a safe level with the fluid from

the tail turret also using grape juice and

other fluid. We had high hopes that the

brakes could work on landing.

We had flown due south and low to the

water after being hit with the shells

from the gunboat. We continued to fly

this way until the fuel loss was halted

and all emergency transferring of fuel

was complete. We then gradually

gained altitude until we reached above

the clouds to about fifteen hundred

feet. As we neared Chilung at the north-

ern tip of Formosa, (now Taiwan), we

headed southeast to get clear of land to

be less of a target to the enemy. After a

short time our heading was changed to

due south again, the most direct head-

ing toward Luzon in the Philippines.

There was still a good four hours of

flying ahead with the possibility of

ditching if we were too short of fuel.

It was about this time when I removed

my fuel soaked coveralls and climbed

into the top turret just to relax. The

enormity of the situation we had been

through came into my mind and every

nerve in my body shook for a few min-

utes. Just the thought that we all could

have crashed into the water as the pilots

said they were hit, or at any second it

would have taken only one spark for

Opie and I to become fireballs. The

plane could have exploded during the

transfer of fuel, killing all eleven of our

crew. If it weren’t for Opie holding onto

my belt, I would have dropped into the

ocean. Somehow or other we had been

saved from all of this for the time being

but we were not home yet and the possi-

bilities of ditching still existed. One

looks back at these happenings and

wonders why we were still alive, flying

over the Pacific Ocean.

Later Opie and I manually cranked the

forward bomb bay doors open again to

jettison our remaining bomb bay tank

after transferring the contents of fuel

into the cells of #3 main tank. The

pilots had used the fuel left in #1 main,

leaving all tanks empty but #3 and #4

main and they were not full. These

bomb bay doors were then cranked

closed. Our situation was still critical as

we had quite a distance to travel before

reaching Luzon. We had lost at least

three hundred gallons of fuel or more.

We made good use of this time going

over our crash positions with the crew

in case we had to ditch due to an insuffi-

cient amount of fuel to reach our base.

We were all connected by the inter-

phone system as long as we wore our

headsets and were plugged into one of

the jack boxes. There were jack boxes

located at strategic locations in the

plane that we could plug into as we

moved about. We wore our headset and

throat microphone on all flights

Our Pilots and Navigator were doing a

fantastic job of rationing fuel. They

were leaning out the engines and flying

the plane without the Automatic Pilot,

not an easy task. As we got closer to

Luzon we broke our radio silence and

notified them of our situation. Our IFF

Page 22

THE FLIGHT OF OUR LIVEShad been shot out and we didn’t want to

be attacked by our own planes that

would be the last straw after coming

this far. The northern end of Luzon was

now one hundred miles as the Pilots

started to slowly gain altitude again.

We would have to reach at least forty

five hundred feet altitude if we were

going to fly directly to our base at

Clark Field, Luzon. All members of

our crew had been under a great strain

since our troubles began. You could

just feel the pressures mount, not

knowing what to expect next.

We approached the northern end of

Luzon at forty five hundred feet alti-

tude, now was the time for a critical

decision. The factors were weighed

very carefully, the distance to Clark

field, the amount of fuel left, also fuel

consumption and the crew’s safety. The

consensus was, we probably had

enough fuel for the trip home and we

would not have to ditch in the water. So

we began the last leg of this flight. We

still had about two hundred miles left

to go. For the crew, pilots and all, we

would switch from ditching in the

water to breaking out the parachutes.

We headed south over Luzon, just west

of the Sierra Madre Mountains on our

starboard side and the Cordillera

Central Mountains on our port side.

This would be a sweat job, as a person

never knows what could happen at the

end of the flight. The trip toward home

seemed like an eternity. We all put on

our parachutes in case we had to aban-

don the aircraft in flight. If the Pilot

gave the signal or the engines started

cutting out from lack of fuel, we would

have to bail out.

Time passed and distance faded away

and the probability of landing seemed

more sure. Opie and I, the two flight

mechanics, went forward to change the

valve on our hydraulic fluid reservoir.

We switched the valve to the emergency

hydraulic fluid supply side. This gave

us an extra supply of hydraulic fluid.

We asked the Pilots to pump the brakes

to bleed the brake lines of air, hoping

this would help the brakes work. There

were no leaks in the repaired lines that

we could see. Time was getting closer to

a landing as we started to gradually let

down. We were in contact with Clark

Tower, knowing our condition they

would give us a straight in landing with

a clear strip as we came in. As the plane

got closer to home we began preparing

for the landing. I checked the nose

wheel as it was let down making sure it

was locked. Opie checked both main

gears locked down from the after sta-

tion as we came over the last hill head-

ing toward our landing. The flaps were

let down on our approach. Opie and I

had parachutes ready at our after sta-

tions to act as brakes in case the brakes

failed. We glided in on fumes and land-

ed tail down on the runway. After the

nose wheel was on the runway the

brakes were applied gradually, we

could feel them grab hold from the

after station. The brakes were working

as we slowed down to a halt our engines

quit. We had landed on fumes with no

fuel left. All hydraulics worked! We

were met on landing by the Medics who

checked the wounded and gave each of

us a drink of spirits to calm our nerves.

Twelve long hours had passed since

take-off. We were later informed that

we had been hit by 40mm, 20mm,

12.7mm and 7.7mm shells.

This is the story of two men, both air-

craft mechanics, who knew their plane,

the hydraulic and brake systems, and

the electrical and emergency systems,

who always carried their toolbox on

every flight. The tools surely came in

handy on this flight. We are J.R. Opie

from Eldon, Missouri and Me William

D. Richards, both Aviation Machinist

Mates second class and both were gun-

ners as well. Our Pilot Plane

Commander, Lieut. William E.

Fulwider, our Co-Pilot Lt.(jg), Harry

E. Nagle and our nose gunner John W.

French all received the Purple Heart

for their wounds. You can be sure that

Opie and I knew that through our

efforts we had made it possible to bring

the plane back with everyone alive.

41045104. win--© February 1997---

Experienced by William D. Richards

of Troy, Michigan

wilm5jn9@aol.com

Gale Ooley's Story

( 6 / 6 / 0 8 )

I arrived in Kansas City with some

other recruits from the Garden City

area and was met by Navy people at the

depot. We were taken immediately to

the naval headquarters to be sworn in.

It was Friday, July 13, 1942. The officer

who was to swear us in said that if any

of us were superstitious about this date

and wanted to back out, now would be

the time! Nobody backed out and we

were in the Navy in about five minutes

time. We boarded a train for Chicago

and ended up at Great Lakes Naval

Base, Camp Moffat. We were issued

Navy shoes and clothes and then sent

to the barber shop. I don’t know what

they did with all that hair – they

scalped us! Then we went to our

assigned barracks and settled in, but

not for long. We had to fall out to be

instructed to what we could expect

from now on.

We learned to sleep in hammocks as

there were not enough bunks and that

was tricky business! You could not

have sticks or anything in the ends of

the hammocks. Some nights (most

nights, in fact!), someone would turn a

little in his sleep and naturally grab for

the fellow next to him – it was like a

domino effect! Several would flip out

and everybody would be awake and

laughing by then. We read the Navy

manual about boats and ships and

marched every day, and every night I

cried myself to sleep thinking about

Jean and Sharon Jean.

After about two months of boot camp

training, we all reported outside our

barracks and it was told what and

where we each would go. Some to radio

school, some to flag signal school,

some to mechanical school and some to

gunnery school. Most of us went to

gunnery school, as that was what was

needed most. I was sent to the Chicago

Great Lakes Naval Base for gunnery

school. We learned to tear down and

repair all kinds of guns, from rifles to

larger machine guns and cannons. We

had to do some of this blindfolded.

Meanwhile, Jean had gone to work at

the telephone company in Liberal as an

operator.

After a month of intensive gunnery

training, about thirty of us were sent to

Brown Shipyard in Houston, Texas.

From there I departed on a new ship,

the S.S. SAMUEL LIVERMORE.

Our skipper met us as it was also his

first assignment: he had just completed

officers’ training. In those days they

were called "90 day wonders." He was

Ensign Woodhead and a pretty nice

guy. We had brought all our gear in

our sea bags and assigned to our focsle

(or room to civilians!). Bunks were

three high, seems as I remember – I

had a lower bunk. Next, we were

assigned to a particular gun. I was trig-

ger man on the port forward side 20

mm. machine gun or cannon. Also, we

were all assigned four-hour watch

periods: on four hours and off eight

hours.

I did get liberty there and went to see a

football game, LSU and Tulane. I went

to a nice USO and ran into Loren

Decamp from Liberal. We had a nice

visit. After a few days (maybe four or

five), we pulled away from the docks

and headed for the Gulf of Mexico,

nicknamed "Torpedo Junction"

because of so many German sub-

marines in the Caribbean. They were

all along the East Coast and Gulf of

Mexico. And Japanese subs were all

along the West Coast from

Washington state to the Panama Canal

Zone. The sea was rough that night and

another fellow and myself got so sea-

sick that we thought we were going to

die but couldn’t. We were on watch on

the fantail. After the second day out, we

got over the seasickness. It was some-

thing us landlubbers were not used to!

I never got seasick after that, even later

in the Pacific in a cyclone. We went to

Aruba just off the coast of Venezuela.

We dropped anchor and spent several

days there. It was 125 F. every day and

we spent most of our time in the water

(got a good sun tan!).

Then we weighed anchor and headed

for Cuba. We had no sightings of sub-

marines on the trip, but could see evi-

dence of trash in the sea and along the

coast where ships had been torpedoed

and sunk. We dropped anchor in

Guantanamo Bay, where we had a large

naval base. We got shore leave in Cuba

and the Cuban people were glad to see

us. Everywhere we went the Cubans

wanted to buy us a drink, but I had to

refuse. One night we got to see a box-

ing match with the champions of Cuba

and another country which I do not

remember.

We spent only a few days in Cuba and

headed for the States. We ran on the

reefs just out of Key West, Florida,

and were stuck there for two days. We

could have been a sitting duck for

German subs but the coast was

patrolled by Coast Guard cutters and

planes, so we weren’t too concerned

about them. We did a lot of fishing,

which was good there. We kept the

hours busy. Two sea-going tugs pulled

for two days before we came off the

reef. We then went on to Key West and

docked to see if there was any major

damage. The ship was not damaged so

in a few days we proceeded on to New

York City. After several days at sea we

arrived at Brooklyn Naval Yard and

docked. We were going to be there sev-

eral days, so the skipper said that all

those who lived within a radius of 300

miles of New York City could have a

four day leave. The rest of us would

stand our regular watches and get

shore leave while off watch.

I had called Jean and she was on her

way to New York and I had to meet her

at the station. You can imagine how

GALE OOLEY’S STORY

Page 23Continued on Page 30

Page 24

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

Page 25

LETTERS FROM THE CREW...

By the time I finished reading “NIGHTMARE IN BARI” by

Gerald Reminick, I was convinced that Ensign Kopl Vesole as

Commander of the Armed Guard contingent aboard the US

Bascom had performed in a manner that placed him in the

Congressional Medal of Honor (MOH) category. Further

research on the subject on the internet and in other books solidi-

fied my conclusion. The USS Vesole’s Bill Pinkerton came to that

same conclusion. A previous “definitive” book “DISASTER AT

BARI” by Glenn B. Infield graphically tells the Bari story as well.

More recently the middle book of a Trilogy, “THE DAY OF

THE BATTLE: THE WAR IN SICILY AND ITALY 1943”

by Rick Atkinson puts the Bari story in a bigger perspective in

terms of the pending buildup that the Bari event prefaced. Kopl

Vesole and the Mustard Gas was written up in that book as well.

Kopl Vesole arrived in the United States from Poland at the age of

seven with his parents and his sister Rose. Though originally a

resident of Davenport Rose is now living in the Denver area near

her son. Kopl lived and went to school in Davenport, Iowa on the

Mississippi a half hour upriver from my hometown of Muscatine,

Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa at Iowa City in the area

and was an attorney when he became part of the Navy and of

WWII and of history.

There is much to the story not just at Bari but before and after.

Leroy Heinse, a Merchant Mariner aboard the Vesole, recently

passed. He had struggled with the effects of the Bari Mustard

Gas all of his life. Leroy maintained during his lifetime that Kopl

Vesole saved his life by getting him out of the oil and Mustard

Gas slurry that was Bari harbor after the German Airforce attack

destroyed so many ships and caused so much damage on the

evening of December 2, 1943. Leroy said that he knew he was not

going to make it had not a badly wounded Kopl Vesole acted and

saved his life. Those kind of stories as related by the survivors

around Kopl Vesole make up the history of the event and are the

heart of the Kopl Vesole story of heroism.

Brandy Brandenstein is the remaining member of the US Navy’s

Armed Guard contingent aboard the US BASCOM. Ensign

Kopl Vesole was their commander. Brandy told me about meet-

ing with “Kay” or “K” Vesole just prior to the attack at Bari.

Brandy related how Kopl Vesole brought an envelope out of his

desk that contained a sheet of paper with the foot imprint of his

new son, Fred, who was about three months old at the time and

who he had not yet seen. It was a very personal moment as

described by Brandy. Brandy would relate that story again when

he and Fred talked for the first time recently.

Kopl’s son Fred Nameth is now an attorney in the Los Angeles

area. He attended the 1997 Vesole Reunion in St Paul, Minnesota

and was part of the Vesole Memorial Event at Fort Snelling

National Cemetery along with many others of the Vesole family

members where his father Kopl Vesole and our other Vesole ship

sailors were commemorated. Fred was presented the US Flag that

had flown over the capital in Washington, DC to honor the occa-

sion.

Now we have moved ahead to a present where a Petition to

Upgrade the Navy Cross that Kopl Vesole received posthumous-

ly after his death at Bari. You will read about all of it in this

newsletter and you will be offered an opportunity to be a part of

this historic effort. I believe that the sailors and members of the

USS VESOLE DD/DDR-878 Association will come together to

support the award of the Medal of Honor to Ensign Kopl Vesole

because it is the right thing to do. He deserves to be recognized as

being in this unique category of heroes.

KOPL VESOLE AND THE CASE FOR HIS UPGRADE TO THE CONGRESSIONAL

MEDAL OF HONOR (MOH) By Roy J. Yeater ET2 54-57, USS VESOLE DD/DDR-878 May 3, 2008

To: All Navy AG Members and Supporters- July 2008

I have had the privilege to be a part of your history by writing and compiling the following books

published by the Glencannon Press: 1-800-711-8905

Patriots and Heroes: True Stories of the U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II, Vols. 1&2

Nightmare in Bari: The World War II Liberty Ship Poison Gas Disaster and Cover-up

Death’s Railway: A Merchant Mariner POW on the River Kwai

No Surrender: True Stories of the U.S. Navy Armed Guard in World War II

Action in the South Atlantic: The Sinking of the German Raider Stier by the Liberty Ship Stephen Hopkins

Seizure and Rescue of the SS Mayaguez (Currently under review for publication by Glencannon)

Lester Ellison is a very good friend of mine. His WW II Tugboat experience aboard an Army Transport Tug was briefly told in my Patriots and

Heroes series. Les’ maritime career led to his desire to inform the American public about the role of the American Merchant Marine in WW II.

In reviewing his life and work, I have decided to write a book concerning the American Merchant Marine and the USNAG and their involve-

ment with tugboats in WW II. Therefore, I am looking for stories from mariners and NAGs who served aboard any WW II related tugboats.

These stories may involve all the theaters, training, first/last voyage, D-day, humor, battle, death, galley, life at sea and in port, etc.

I look forward to compiling and writing this volume on our WW II tugboats. Thank you. Sincerely,

Gerald Reminick • 83 Bayberry Dr, Huntington, NY 11743 • (H) 631-421-3242 • (O) 631-851-6557 • reminig@sunysuffolk.edu

Page 26

HONOR FLIGHT • TAKING WWII VETE

CENTER will honor fl ight

ERANS ON THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME!

Some of you have taken this trip already and told me how much you enjoyed it.Others who haven’t been and want to, contact them and not me. (cal)

Page 27

CENTER will honor fl ight

Page 28

MACMURRAY COLLEGE

Page 29

MACMURRAY COLLEGE / PORT DIRECTOR

Page 30

each of us felt at the time. We were just

country kids and New York City was a

large city. But we had no problem find-

ing each other – what a happy reunion!

Jean had come over a thousand miles to

be with me and I was going to be with

her every minute! I paid a buddy to

stand watch for me all four days

(although the skipper did not know

about this!). Jean and I had a wonderful

time: we went to Central Park and to

Rockefeller Center and saw the

Rockettes and went up the Empire

State Building and viewed the city and

all the harbors with the ships coming

and going. It was quite something for a

couple of green kids from Kansas!

We had a great time together, but time

soon ran out and I had to put Jean on

the train, not knowing when I would see

her again. It was another sad parting

with tears running down our cheeks. In

grief I hailed a cab and headed back to

the Brooklyn Naval Yard to get on my

ship. When I got to the dock where I

left my ship four days before, lo and

behold – it was not there! I began

thinking of all kinds of things that

might happen to me. I just knew I was

going to end up in the brig for jumping

ship. I was really down, when I saw a

Navy guy in a jeep and I asked him if he

knew where the ship had gone. He said

it had gone across town to the Army

docks. I thanked him and hailed anoth-

er cab to get me there in a hurry! It was

a large area with ships everywhere,

being loaded to go overseas to the war

front. I came up to the gate which was

guarded by Marines (they were mean)

and showed my ID card and asked to be

admitted. The guard looked me over

and asked where that ship was located.

I said to him, "This place is so big, I’m

not sure where it is – I would have to

look around." Anyway, he let me in and

from there, I did not know which direc-

tion to go. There were ships every-

where! God must have been looking

after me as I know He did many times,

for I saw another sailor close by in a

jeep and asked him if he knew where

the SAMUEL LIVERMORE was

docked, and he said, "Sure, jump in and

I will take you to it." I couldn’t believe

my good luck. That ship looked like

the Taj Mahal to me at that moment. I

almost kneeled down and kissed the

steel plates, I was so happy to see it! I

didn’t mind starting my watch at all!

We were loading supplies for several

days and the winches were very noisy

dropping supplies down into the holds.

I was on watch one day when this was

going on and I had just gone to the gal-

ley to get a cup of coffee. At that time a

Navy Lieutenant came aboard and was

looking for the person who was sup-

posed to be on watch. I rushed over to

where the winches were going up and

down and making a lot of noise, pre-

tending I had been there all the time.

He dressed me down anyway and I

always felt guilty about claiming I had

been watching them load the ship.

A few days passed, and after the ships

were loaded, we lay low in the water

from our load of cargo.They then

brought five P 38 airplanes and put

them on the deck. What a prize this

would have been for some German sub-

marine captain! It finally came time to

set sail for wherever we were going,

which we did not know until all the

ships were coming together in a convoy

of maybe thirty or forty ships being

escorted by destroyers and airplanes

part of the way. It was late February of

1943 and we headed for North Africa.

The invasion of North Africa had taken

place about two months before and

there was heavy fighting in and around

Oran and Algiers in the Mediterranean.

We were to land in Casablanca, which

we did and saw the destruction our bat-

tleships and destroyers and airplanes

had done to the port there, sunken ships

and the smell human flesh was bad. We

docked not too far from where the

French battleship JEAN BART was

docked. The JEAN BART was

manned by the Vichy French and they

resisted our invasion, with the

Germans. Our battleship put it out of

commission in short order. We

unloaded the five P 38 planes in

Casablanca, as there was a big air base

set up for our planes to fly to the front

lines. I saw many planes that were shot

up pretty bad but still were able to

make it back to the air base. However,

many didn’t make it back. After

unloading the planes, we went on to the

Rock of Gibraltar and dropped anchor

there to wait for more ships to come in.

I woke up one morning to go on watch

and you could see ships way past the

horizon. There must have been at least

a hundred or more. We had general

quarters sounding frequently for air

raid alarms and had to man our guns.

We were constantly on alert and slept in

our clothes most of the time while we

were in the Mediterranean Sea. I had a

close buddy named Reece who was

always talking about his girlfriend

back home in Minnesota, and while

were anchored in Gibraltar, I was to go

on watch at midnight. Reece was not in

his bunk. The one I was to relieve came

down and said I had better go to the big

gun on the stern, because he said Reece

was going to test fire the big gun on the

stern and sure enough, Reece was there.

We were on complete blackout at night

and if Reece had fired the gun we would

have been blown out of the water by the

big guns on Mt. Gibraltar, besides the

other ships in the harbor. I convinced

Reece to go down to our focsle and go

to bed, which he did. But then he start-

ed switching his bunk light on and off

and nobody was going to get any sleep.

I asked him to quit and he just reached

up and grabbed the light and pulled it

completely out of the wall and handed

it to me and laughed! I knew then he

was off his rocker and immediately

went to the skipper and told him he was

going to have to get Reece off the ship

before something bad happened. The

next morning the skipper and Reece left

GALE OOLEY’S STORY

Page 31

the ship and as Reece left, he turned

around and saluted us and grinned.

That was the last time I saw my friend,

he had gone over the edge. The first

time I noticed he had a problem was

when he used shaving lotion to brush

his teeth and toothpaste to shave with. I

often wondered whatever happened to

him (maybe he was not as crazy as we

thought!).

One day, a white reconnaissance plane

came over and it was very high. A

British aircraft carrier that was

anchored at Gibraltar let go with every-

thing it had. Shells were exploding all

around that plane and it just kept

going. Our little guns would not reach

that distance so we didn’t waste any

ammunition.

Finally the convoy of supply ships were

organized and ready to enter the

Mediterranean with our escort

destroyers. Before we got to Oran, we

were riding a rough sea and it was misty

and cold. We were all at our gun posi-

tions on complete alert, while in the

Mediterranean Sea. All of a sudden

general quarters was sounded, as some-

one on watch saw a group of planes

coming in from the rear, very low over

the sea.

Those crazy Germans were flying in

that kind of weather! That was proba-

bly the idea, though, to surprise us. I

don’t know, but we were ready for them,

because everybody was on their guns.

We had eight 20 mm guns and a 3"50

antiaircraft on the bow and a 4"50 can-

non on the stern, a World War I relic.

When the 4"50 gun let go plus all the

other ships, the planes spread out their

formation and came in, not a hundred

feet off the water. Everything broke

loose!! Tracer bullets from the ships

and planes looked like the fourth of

July! One plane came by my port side

and I was on the bow port side 20 mm

gun and I could see the pilot and copi-

lot and they were looking straight

ahead like they were out on a Sunday

drive, but their gunners were busy as I

was, also. I had a buddy who was busy

putting the ammunition magazine on

my gun and another who would change

the barrel when it got too hot. This was

my gun crew in my turret. The battle

lasted maybe twenty or thirty minutes,

I don’t remember for sure. You could

see tracer bullets flying all around the

planes like spraying water on a dog.

You could see where the bullets were

going and only every third bullet was a

tracer bullet so you couldn’t see many

of the bullets. I don’t know if I shot a

plane down or not, for as soon as that

plane was past me, I was not concerned

about him – I was waiting for the next

one coming in! One guy got so scared

he left his gun and went below. I don’t

know what happened to him but I’m

sure he received some disciplinary

action when we got back home. The

guys on the 3.50 were hollering and

whooping it up because one of us got a

plane.

One night while on watch, we were all

on ear phones so we could communi-

cate with one another. I heard a shot and

heard one of the guys say, "I wasn’t

asleep." He reported it at least three

times because he was scared. The

coxwaln in charge was checking to see if

everyone was on watch. He was proba-

bly asleep. A few weeks later the

coxwaln went off his bonkers and they

had to take him off in a strait jacket.

One of our youngest gunmen was not

over seventeen, I’m sure. He lied about

his age to get into the Navy. He was on a

starboard side gun and a plane came up

on port side, on my side of the ship, and

he got on it and continued firing as it

went by and didn’t stop firing as it went

by and shot up the smoke stack and the

guys on the bridge ducked for cover.

He got chewed out but no disciplinary

action.

We arrived in Oran without losing a

ship but the Germans weren’t so fortu-

nate. Our ship was credited for shoot-

ing down three planes and damaging

two others. British and American PT

boats went out after the battle and

picked up maybe thirty or forty

German airmen and women. They were

brought ashore right next to our ship

and they were the "cream of the crop" or

"super-race"(they thought). They all

had crew cut blond hair and steel blue

eyes and I was only about fifty feet from

them. They glared at me with hatred in

their eyes as they marched by. You

could tell they were disciplined.

We unloaded the rest of our cargo in

Oran. While their tanks were still being

unloaded close to our ship and I was on

the dock watching them unload from

some LST’s. Each one had a name or

something painted on the side like our

airmen painted on the side of their

planes. Suddenly one of them came out

of the LST and on it was the name

"Sharon Jean." It hit me like a ton of

bricks, it was so unexpected! I went

back to my focsle and cried.

We were in Oran probably a week or ten

days. One day a British Guard, similar

to our Marines, came by our ship and I

happened to be on the dock and we

struck up a conversation. He had just

come from the front lines for a little R

& R. I invited him to come aboard for

noon chow and he readily accepted. It

was probably the first decent meal he

had enjoyed since leaving Great

Britain. He told me how the Germans

had killed several of his relatives and he

had no love for them. I doubt if he ever

took very many prisoners. He gave me

some souvenirs from the front. I wish I

had written down his name.

While in Oran, we heard "Axis-Sally"

broadcasting from Berlin. She would

play American "big-band" music like

Guy Lombardo and Tommy Dorsey to

try to make us homesick. She would

say, "Your wife or girlfriend is playing

around back home" and then she would

tell exactly where our troops were and

GALE OOLEY’S STORY

Page 32

she was usually right! My British

friend was departing for the front lines

with a convoy of trucks with supplies

and soldiers and he invited us to go

with them (we had to decline).

We finally got our cargo unloaded and

pulled out with some other ships to

head back to the states. I think it was

the first or second day out that the sea

was calm as glass – not a good sign. I

was standing on the bridge talking to

the skipper and looking at a British

ship next to us. We were on the coffin

corner of the convoy – on the very out-

side, first in line. The British ship was

on the inside of us. All of a sudden we

heard an explosion and saw the ship

give a lurch. I hollered at the skipper

"that ship has been torpedoed!" It took

another torpedo and broke in half and I

saw the bow and the stern disappear

into the deep. This all happened in

about ten minutes. I saw only about six

or eight sailors in the water and maybe

two life rafts. There must have been

several subs in the area: this was called a

"wolf-pack" by our sailors.

They sank several ships: one I saw that

was behind us and one to the side of us

took a torpedo in the bow right under-

neath the big gun where the ammuni-

tion was stored and it blew the whole

bow off, gun crew and all. We could not

stop and pick up survivors as we would

have been sitting ducks for the subs.

Our destroyer escorts began dropping

depth charges or "tin cans" on the subs

and tried to pick up survivors, also.

The depth charges sounded like giant

hammers hitting on the hull of the ship.

I can imagine what it sounded like to

those German submariners. After the

attack we returned to Oran and I was

admitted to the hospital for surgery for

a wound on my neck that I received

from a shell which had exploded on

deck – one of our shells. I had manned

my gun although injured and bleeding.

I was taken to a hospital where other

Americans were who had come from the

front lines. It was a French hospital but

a US Navy doctor worked on me as a

French nurse held my hand. The doctor

said, "Son, that was getting close to

where you live." I was in the hospital for

five or six days when some of my ship-

mates came to see me and said they were

leaving for the States the next day. I

bailed out of my bed and was starting

to put my clothes on when the nurse

came over and wanted to know what I

was doing. I told her my ship was leav-

ing for the States and I was going to be

on it and that was it. I walked out with

my shipmates. We were back out to sea

before my skipper knew I was aboard.

In the meantime, some of my shipmates

had spoken to the skipper about me

receiving the Purple Heart medal but

he said he couldn’t do that. I didn’t

know anything about this and wouldn’t

have felt right about it either. But I had

manned my gun even though injured!

After passing through the Straits of

Gibraltar, we entered the North

Atlantic, still stalked by the German

subs. We knew it because the destroy-

ers were dropping depth charges fre-

quently. We ran into a terrible storm in

the Atlantic and finally were able to

elude the subs, but the storm was so

bad that some of the ships were dam-

aged and became separated from the

convoy.

Finally, we arrived in New York City

and passed the Statue of Liberty, a

beautiful lady and a sight to see. As we

came in, the Queen Mary was going

out. She was so hugh, she made our

ship look like a rowboat! We docked in

Brooklyn and reported to the Naval

base for new assignments. I got a fifteen

day leave and a transfer to New

Orleans, Algiers Naval Base. I got to

spend most of the time with my beauti-

ful wife and also some time with my

parents and her parents. Jean’s parents

were very special to me. They did not

know about my injury until I got home.

I soon had to report to Algiers Naval

Base, across the Mississippi River from

New Orleans. At that time, you had to

take a ferry across the river. I soon was

promoted to 3rd Class Petty Officer

and assigned to the Naval Brig as a

guard and the mail orderly.

Jean had been working at the telephone

company as a phone operator, but she

quit her job to come to New Orleans to

be with me. We lived on St. Charles

Street and shared an apartment with

another young military couple, sharing

the bath and kitchen areas. Housing

was hard to find during the war. We

rode the trolley when we went to town

or church or just as something to do.

We didn’t have any money but we were

together. The people in New Orleans

were very friendly, and the chow at the

Algiers Naval Base was the best! The

nights were very hot in August and

September. There was no such thing as

air conditioning, but at least we did

have fans.

One day I was on guard duty and I had

six or eight prisoners cleaning up a cer-

tain perimeter on the base, and most of

the guys were decent people. They had

either missed their ship or come late

from their leave or got drunk and

thrown in jail for fighting a Marine or

Army guy. Others were there for more

serious crimes and some were waiting

for a "general court martial" which

could land them in prison for a long

time and a dishonorable discharge from

the Navy.

I ended up having one of these creeps in

my work detail but I didn’t know what

he was in for. We guards would usually

let the guys have a short smoke break

and rest period – maybe fifteen or twen-

ty minutes. This character asked me

what I would do if he tried to escape. I

put my hand on my revolver and said,

"Would you like to find out?" I had no

more problems with him but I kept my

eye in him all the time. It was a good

thing that I did, because a few days later,

one of the guards was a nice guy who had

GALE OOLEY’S STORY

been in the Navy for several years and

was up for discharge with full pension as

soon as the war ended. He had a detail

out with this creep and he let his guard

down. This creep picked up a brick or a

large rock and hit the guard in the head

and killed him.

He escaped for a short time but was still

on the base when they caught him. He

was brought back to the brig compound

and turned loose in there. The other

prisoners almost beat the character to

death and the guards didn’t care, because

the guard he had killed was well thought

of by the other guards and prisoners. It

was a sad time for all of us as he had

earned his retirement and he left only his

wife to mourn for him – they had no

children

A few months later, I was approached by

somebody from headquarters on the

base, saying I was to receive a decoration

for action in the Mediterranean. This

was a complete surprise to me. A few

days later a detachment of sailors was

brought to the parade ground and Jean

was there to see it. A sailor on another

ship and I were presented with "The

Letter of Commendation" from the

Navy. I soon was promoted to

2nd Class Petty Officer (with promo-

tion comes more responsibility!). A

month or so later I received orders to go

to Beaumont, Texas, to be the Navy offi-

cer in charge of about ten men to man a

three-inch gun on the bow and two 20

mm. cannons. I also had a radio man and

a flagman to send signals to other ships.

The seagoing tug was the "Jupiter Inlet."

This meant Jean and I were going to be

separated again. She went back home to

work for the telephone company, but

soon she and her folks moved to upstate

New York, where her brother was sta-

tioned in a conscientious objectors’

camp, as he was a preacher. They, Daddy

Chapin and Doyle did evangelistic work

around Hubbardsville, New York. The

country is beautiful up there: rolling

hills and lots of trees, and Jean said the

most beautiful snow flakes.

Taking charge of a crew of Navy guys was

a new experience for me. I was only a kid:

22 or 23 years old, but those under me

were only 18-20 years old. We soon got

acquainted and I assigned each man to a

gun and wrote up the watch schedule. I

soon found out who I could really depend

on! We departed from Beaumont and

entered the channel of the Gulf of

Mexico. We operated around the coast

for two or three months, towing barges

from Galveston, Port Arthur, Beaumont

and Corpus Christi to the Florida coast,

Tampa Bay, Key West and Savannah,

Georgia. During this time I got an infec-

tion in my foot from a blister. Before we

got back to Port Arthur, my foot was

swollen and blood poisoning had set in

and it was up past my ankle. My foot was

so painful I couldn’t walk on it. When we

got to port, I went to the Naval hospital –

with the help of two of my buddies.

When I was admitted and the doctor

looked at it, he said there was only a fifty-

fifty chance of saving my foot. That was

not the kind of news I wanted to hear!

They immediately started to soak my

foot in some kind of a solution and giving

me some pills. I soaked my foot all that

night and all the next day and just a few

days later it started to clear up. I left the

hospital with my foot intact and got back

on the tug in time to pull out for a new

assignment.

We then received orders to go to Panama.

We had been operating around Cuba and

Puerto Rico and were back in Galveston

when I received word from Jean that we

had a beautiful new baby daughter! I

immediately went to the port officer’s

office to see about getting a leave to go to

New York to see my wife and new daugh-

ter. I saw a lieutenant and he said all he

could give me was a four-day leave. There

was no way I could go to New York and

back in four days! I left the office feeling

pretty down, and as I was going down the

hall I happened to pass a room. Looking

in, I saw a Navy officer’s cap with scram-

bled eggs all over it. I didn’t know if he

was a Commander or and Admiral, but I

went in and told him what I wanted to do

(I didn’t mention that I had just talked to

a lieutenant!). He asked me if fifteen days

would be enough, and I said, "Yes, Sir!"

He had his yeoman make up the papers

and I thanked him and was on my way. I

couldn’t believe my good luck! While on

the train, a conductor came up to me and

wanted me to talk to a Spanish lady who

he could not understand. I had been in the

Gulf and in the Caribbean and had a dark

tan and a mustache and he thought I was a

Mexican!

I finally got to Hubbardville and Jean

was in the hospital in Oneida. I saw Mary

Gayle and told her she was a beautiful

baby. Jean was dismissed and we went

back to Hubbardville. It was a wonderful

time being with Jean and our new daugh-

ter and her folks whom I loved very

much. Soon it was time to leave again. I

kissed my wife and daughter and bade

them farewell, not knowing when I would

see them again.

We shipped out, heading for the Panama

Canal Zone. Our duty in Panama was to

go out and tow in any ship that had been

torpedoed.. We towed in Panama City,

Balboa and Cristobale. We might be on

the Atlantic side and get a call to go

through the Canal and pick up a ship on

the Pacific side that had been torpedoed

by the Japs. We would stay on the Pacific

side of the land and then get a call to go to

the Atlantic side to pick up a ship and

bring it into dry dock for repairs.

The Germans were lurking on the

Atlantic side and the Japanese on the

Pacific side. We went through the Canal

at least five or six times. Ships that had

been torpedoed but not sunk had holes as

large as a small home but were still float-

ing! We were in Panama about two or

three months when we received orders to

tow a floating dry dock and a Navy

minesweeper to the Philippines. It had

been good duty in Panama: they had a

nice USO, we had good food and quite a

lot of free time.

GALE OOLEY’S STORY

Page 33

Page 34

We finally left Panama and headed for

the Philippines. We were going the

southern route to the Marshall Islands,

just off the coast of Australia. We were

only about a week out of Panama when

we ran into a terrible hurricane. The

winds were blowing 125 miles per hour

and the waves would come crashing over

our little, old tug. You didn’t dare to be

outside, for you would be washed over-

board! We thought we might lose the

dry dock and the minesweeper. We were

like a cork on the sea. The cable to the

dry dock was stretched out probably a

quarter of a mile. We didn’t know where

it might break and wrap around us (it

was a four-inch steel cable). The water in

our sleeping quarters was about a foot

deep, and our baggage and anything on

the floor was swishing back and forth,

soaking wet! Some things came loose on

the upper deck, but there was nothing

we could do about it.

The storm lasted about twenty-four

hours: nobody could sleep and we ate

only sandwiches. If you tried to eat out

of a plate, you had to hold on to it or it

would be down at the other end of the

table and somebody else would be eating

out of it! The only lull was when we

passed through the eye of the storm,

then it was right back into the storm

again.

After the storm finally passed and we

surveyed the damage done to our vessel

and the other two vessels, it was deter-

mined we would have to pull into

Acapulco, Mexico, for repairs before we

could proceed on. We were in Acapulco

for almost a month while the three ves-

sels were being repaired. While there we

had liberty to go ashore, also we went

diving off the ship and swimming and

ate three good meals a day!

One of the Merchant Marine boys from

Venezuela and myself decided to go over

to the dry dock and dive off it. That dry

dock must have been fifty or sixty feet

high. None of the other guys would dive

off it, but stayed on the launch below.

The fellow from Venezuela had learned

to swim before he could walk. That was

the case with most of the babies in

Mexico and South America. Anyway, he

dived first and I noticed that he dived

too steep, so I dived off a little further

and my legs did not flop over like his

did. Once was enough of that for me, but

the next adventure was to dive off the

rails of the gun turret on the bridge. In

order to do that, you had to push off

hard enough to clear the deck below. I

was the only one dumb enough to try

this. I held onto one of the guys hand to

stand on the rails and cleared the deck

below. Once was enough for this stupid

stunt, also! Next, the fellow from

Venezuela and I decided we would dive

in and go underneath the ship and come

up on the other side. He went first and he

did it, so I took a deep breath and dived

in. But when I got down close to the keel

of the ship I chickened out and didn’t

make it! He had more lung capacity than

I did!

We watched the Mexicans dive off the

high cliffs in Acapulco. They had to dive

at just the right time or they would hit

the rocks below when the waves would

go back out. All those who dived off this

cliff had a scorpion tattoo on his arm –

showing he was special!

Acapulco was not a large city back in

1944 but was a popular place for the rich

and the famous, like movie stars and

executives. Errol Flynn had a yacht there

and there were probably others.

After being in Acapulco for about a

month for repairs, we finally started out

again for the Philippines. We could only

make about three knots per hour and

were at sea for about forty days without

seeing land. We ate, slept, played cards

and wore out three punching bags. Some

of us got pretty good on the punching

bags. One of the guys was better than I

was and he wanted to put the gloves on.

He was mad at me, because while we

were in Acapulco, he met a gal of ill-

repute and thought he was in love and

wanted to marry her. He didn’t come

back to the ship to stand his watch he was

assigned to, so I cancelled the rest of his

liberty. He wanted to get back at me, so I

took his challenge and we got after it. He

was a good boxer because he had come

from a big city and was street-wise. He

let me have on and I saw stars – he won

that round (the first one, I think). That

was about the only excitement during

those forty days. We were running low

on water, so when a shower came up we

would strip and bathe ourselves. This

happened frequently. Two of my ship-

mates I ran around with on liberty had

the same sleeping quarters with three

other guys . We had good food when we

started out but supplies were running

low.

Ross, one of my close friends, would

sneak out after midnight and pick the

lock on the large freezer and bring ice

cream back to our sleeping quarters.

The galley cooks probably couldn’t fig-

ure out what was happening to the ice

cream!

We finally reached Eniwetok &

Kwajalein and dropped anchor. I went

ashore to pick up the mail and a friend of

mine from Liberal who also was picking

up mail for a ship he was on heard I was

there. His name was Dude Hickey. He

found out what ship I was on and came

over to see me. We had a nice, long visit

– small world! While we were there,

maybe ten days, another soldier on

another ship was swimming and got

caught in a current and drowned. He

didn’t surface for about three days. I was

on the beach when they brought him in –

he was bloated and looked awful! We

didn’t do any more swimming there. It’s

hard telling how many of our soldiers

and Marines with their packs on died

taking Eniwetok & Kwajalein. The

islands did have palm trees on them but

all that was left was stumps of trees.

We heard Tokyo Rose there, coming

over the air waves from Tokyo, playing

the same American music and spreading

GALE OOLEY’S STORY

Page 35

propaganda, like Axis Sally from

Germany. We had some kind of engine

problem, so we couldn’t go on to the

Philippines. That broke my heart (Ha!).

We were getting ready to invade Japan

from the Philippines and I was not look-

ing forward to that! Fortunately, the

atomic bomb and Harry Truman took

care of that. It saved a lot of American

lives as well as Japanese if we would have

invaded Japan. We came back by way of

Hawaii and had a few days liberty there.

I picked up the mail there and was

always amazed how the mail would be at

a port we called on! The postal service

and government knew how important it

was for us to get our mail when we came

into a port.

After a few days in Hawaii, we headed

for Panama and went through the locks

and headed for New Orleans, Algiers

Naval Base. It was 107 miles from the

mouth of the Mississippi to New

Orleans and I got to steer the ship all the

way, with a pilot, of course, who knew

the Mississippi. He would say, "Hard

right!" or "Hard left!" or "easy this way!"

or that so I would not run on a sand bar.

A German sub tried to make its way up

the Mississippi, thinking he could blow

up the docks at New Orleans. The skip-

per of that sub used to be a pilot on the

Mississippi before the war. He got stuck

on a sand bar, however, and he and his

crew were captured, along with the sub.

I was not in New Orleans very long

when I was instructed to take two hun-

dred recruits to San Francisco, Treasure

Island Naval Base. We were on a troop

train which was more like cattle cars. I

don’t remember how many cars for sure,

maybe eight or ten. I made one man on

each car responsible to see that they did-

n’t lose a man along the way. It was like a

milk route in a nightmare: it took us four

days as we stopped at every little town

along the way. Every time we stopped,

some of the guys would run to a close

beer joint or food place and race back to

the train. We finally made it to San

Francisco and I turned the whole bunch

over to Navy people who took us to

Treasure Island. I did not lose one man

on the way, whereas another group of

four lost two guys along the way. I was

assigned to be a Master at Arms and had

the duty to welcome the Commander of

the base every morning by hollering

"Attention." Everything came to a

screeching halt to be passed through to

his office. He always arrived right on the

hour, then I would say, "At ease." I was

soon promoted to 1st Class Petty

Officer "BMIC."

As soon as I found out I was going to be

there for some time, I called Jean. She

and our daughter Mary Gayle came and

we found an apartment just out of

Oakland at El Cerrito, which was the

closest thing we could find to my base.

We were stationed there about six

months when the atomic bombs were

dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

and the Japanese surrendered. I had

enough points to get out but the

Commander sent his yeoman to see me. I

had no idea what he wanted, but I didn’t

think I was in any trouble. Anyway, I

went to his headquarters and saluted

him and he asked me to reenlist and he

would see that I made chief right away.

That is one of the best jobs in the Navy –

you are the boss! I told him we were

ready to go home, but thanks anyway. I

might have missed the boat there,

because I would have been his man. I

sent Jean and Mary Gayle back to

Liberal to be with my parents until I was

discharged. I was sent to Camp

Shoemaker in California and received

my discharge on October 4, 1945, and

returned to Liberal to resume civilian

life again.

Gale Ooley, 1411 Park Ave., Canon City,

Co., 81212 719-276-2044

GALE OOLEY’S STORY

Page 36

PAUL MUELLERMy first two trips across the Pacific were as a Pharmacist Mate,

part of the Armed Guard, on the Dutch ship MS Sommelsdijk,

a ship owned by the Netherlands that was marooned in the

Dutch East Indies when the Nazis invaded the low lands. It was

leased by the United States to carry troops and supplies to the

armed forces in the Pacific. The first trip was a round trip to

Noumea New Caledonia. The second was to Guadalcanal in the

Solomon Islands. On this trip, we experienced a couple of air

raids and a submarine attack. On the first trip we also were in a

terrible Hurricane and a epidemic of Spinal Meningitis which

caused the death of several CB's. The CB's were the 33rd

Yankee Battalion which later distinguished itself on

Guadalcanal. I was intimately exposed to the disease, and that

scared the Hell out of me. More than any other experience I had

during the whole war. On this occasion we had to bury some men

at sea, a very lugubrious experience! A Moonless night, still in

the water, waiting for a torpedo! By the way our Dutch skipper

told us the wind during the Hurricane was 136 miles per hour.

The waves looked like 7 story buildings floating by! The dis-

ruption of usual Dutch cleanliness and the troops vomiting on

each other in the holds were the main cause of the dissemination

of the disease, which in those days was almost 100% fatal and

was endemic in the Military. After the second trip I was trans-

ferred to shore duty. On the ships next trip she took a torpedo on

the port side of the second hold where the sick bay was. It was in

the Leyte Gulf. The ship survived and sailed again after repairs.

My third and last trip as an Armed Guard Pharmacist Mate was

on the S.S. Frederick Jackson Turner, a Liberty EC2 cargo ves-

sel of 7181 gross tons, owned by the United States Government,

and operated by the Isthmian Steamship company under a Navy

charter. The Master was John N. Boughman. We left San

Francisco August 15, 1943. We proceded to Port Hueneme

California where to took on CB's Troops 1010 and 1016 , PT unit

No. 15 and a lot of construction material. The forward decks

were loaded with landing craft, trucks, steel, lumber and heavy

construction machinery .We left Port Hueneme August 22. At

sea, on September 11, a British PBY-5 circled the ship several

times then scouted the area from 0600 until mid-afternoon. On

September 13 the USS Terry made rendezvous with us and

escorted us to Noumea New Caledonia , where we arrived on

September 15 ,. Two US sea planes escorted us the last few miles.

We took departure from New Caledonia on September 21 in

convoy with S.S. Aridid ,S.S. Oliver Wendell Holmes, S.S. J.B.

Francis and four escort vessels . ( 3 DE's and a sub chaser ) At

1650 an escort vessel on the port beam dropped a depth charge

500 yards from the convoy which then executed a number of

emergency turns then resumed the base course.

We arrived at Guadalcanal on September 26 and anchored off

Lunga Point where we discharge CB Unit 1016 .We then pro-

ceded to Tulagi where we unloaded the rest of the troops and

some cargo. We loaded defective ammunition and PT Motors

for delivery to Espirito Sato. We also took on 31 enlisted men

bound for the USA . We left Tulagi and sailed to Tenaru Point

where we continued to discharge cargo. All the time we were in

the area there were numerous air alerts. No enemy planes

appeared until 0200 October 11. At this time the S.S. Turner was

lying off Tenaru point with the USS Serpes . Both illuminated

brightly by cargo lights. About three miles down the beach at

Koli Point, Th S.S. Himes and the S.S. Couch, ( Liberty EC2

Vessels) were also unloading from anchorage, and illuminated

by cargo lights. They were deep loaded in contrast to the Turner

and Serpes. Two planes attacked the Himes and the Couch

.They took hits at the water line from either Torpedos or skip

bombs. Both started burning immediately .We stopped loading

and turned off the lights.The flames of the Himes were put out

quickly but the Couch continued to burn violently with frequest

small explosions. At this time, I was in the aft, port side, 20mm

gun tub where I was assigned as a loader. I was looking for

Torpedo trails that our Bosn' mate had told us to look for and

shoot at if we saw one. The flames from the two hit ships lit up

the sky.The next morning the Himes was run aground to facili-

tate salvage. The Couch continued to burn throughout the day

and was later towed around the point where she capsized in

shallow water .We then went to Tulagi and loaded the U.S.

Marine Corps' 14th Defense Battalion for passage to Noumea.

We then anchored in Purvis Bay to await orders. On October 14

we left Purvis Bay and joined convoy with the damaged USS

Patterson ( Bow missing from a collision with another

Destroyer )USS Crouter and the USS O'Bannon, also partially

crippled.The Patterson and the O'Bannon left the convoy the

next day. We arrived at Noumea October 21 and discharged all

cargo and personnel .

Armed Guard-Paul Mueller

Clarence D Haugen from page 7.

Page 37

Supplement to Lenhart Lange

Oral History To: Mr. Henrik

N o r m a n n Z a c h o R e : S . S .

ALCOA PIONEER Memories

From: Lenhart R. Lange,

460 Briarcliff Dr

Napoleon, OH 43545-2308

(419) 592-6716

I entered the United States Navy on 9

September 1943. After attending Great

Lake Training school, I was put into

the USN Armed Guard Division. My

service on the S.S. ALCOA PIO-

NEER began around August of 1944.

I was looking forward to sailing on the

S. S. ALCOA PIONEER. I was very

young, maybe the youngest on the ship.

I was very proud to be in the Navy,

because my father served in WWI and

my older brother was an officer in

WWII, and I was proud to say I was

following their examples. I had little

experience, was seasick on my first

ship, but after overcoming that I loved

being aboard ship. Being prone to sea

sickness probably saved my life as you

will soon learn. I served as a sight set-

ter for a 3" 50 cal. gun on the bow. I was

somewhat scared because I knew that

we would be sailing into the Pacific and

at the time I didn't know what our

cargo was or where we were going. As a

young man, it was exciting not to know

what was going to be just around the

corner.

We had watch every day with time off.

We were responsible for keeping our

guns cleaned and oiled. We did

required daily exercises. We had our

meals-breakfast, lunch and dinner at

the same time each day. Everyone ate

together and the food was good. The

Merchant Marine cooks often tried to

make things we requested. The only

chores we had were to keep our bunks

tidy and our own laundry done. There

were no religious services on the ship,

but I carried and read the bible each

day. For recreation we played cards. We

would also like to watch what other

people were doing on ships near us and

even during free time we kept our eyes

on the horizon to see where we were

headed, and what might be coming our

way.

The S.S. ALCOA PIONEER was

pretty new and the quarters were very

good for our Navy personnel. There

were four bunks in a room. I spent 90%

of my time sleeping under the bow gun

tub while at sea, because of the fresh air

(which helped fend off seasickness)

and solitude.

The S.S. ALCOA PIONEER was a

ship that hauled all types of cargo for

United States Force use. The ship was

leased to the government and owned by

the Alcoa Steamship Company. The

ship's serial PD was 30070021.

Aboard the ship we had (1) 4"50 cal.,

(1) 3"50 cal., (8) 20 mil., and we had (4)

45 cal. pistols, (1) 38 cal. revolver, and

(2 )30 cal. rifles and ammunition. It

wasn't a brand new ship, but I think it

was built in 1941.

The crew was made up of Navy men

and Merchant Marines. The Navy

crew's job was to arm the ship and pro-

tect the ship and cargo. The Merchant

Marines saw to it that the ship was

maintained.

Our crew was a very alert crew. Most

of the men were young. Some had fam-

ilies. We talked a lot about our fami-

lies. We all had our special friends on

board, but we were all friendly to each

other. We were from all different states

and backgrounds. I would say that

after serving with them, I found out

that they were all very brave people.

My feeling is that we all felt that we

were on the ship to protect the United

States and I think every man was proud

to serve. All men did their duties, as

they were told, because we had good

commanders.

Our Lieutenant, Howard Jerslid, was

very Navy. Everything had to go by the

book. His personality was good, he

was excellent with his men, he worked

hard and dressed well. I had the pleas-

ure of going out to dinner with him in

San Francisco several times before our

voyage. He spoke often of his family

and he was interested in sports. He was

knowledgeable about many things and

empathetic about our lives and emo-

tions during the time of service. I never

saw him get upset or use fowl language

with the crew. We liked him and we did

what he asked. The Captain of the ship,

A. W. Gavin, was Merchant Marine.

He was usually in his cabin or on the

bridge. We didn't see him often. He

was good with the Merchant Marine

crew . The Navy men and Merchant

Marines got along well and we often

tried to help each other.

My Voyage on the S.S. ALCOA PIO-

NEER began in August of 1944. We

left the port of San Francisco, Ca. not

knowing what cargo was aboard. At the

last minute the Longshoreman put a

jeep aboard for us, we paid them a few

dollars and we also got a monkey

S.S. ALCOA PIONEER MEMORIES

Page 38

aboard. The captain had a dog, named

Skipper. Once out to sea two weeks, we

were told that we carried high explo-

sive gasoline for Navy, Army and air-

craft use in the hold. On the main deck

we also carried airplanes that were

KD.(to be assembled on shore) The

ship had a gross ton capacity of 6759

ton. We were listed in the water about

22 feet (depth). Sailing was good. We

made several stops and then we into

Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea. This is

where we first heard Tokyo Rose use

the name of our ship in the broadcast.

While waiting for the convoy there, we

were hit by a ship in our bow. They put

an 8X10 plate of steel into the ship so

we would be safe to sail. While we were

in the Bay, we got messages that the

Japanese Navy was going to come in

and attack. We had our equipment

ready to go to shore, because we knew

if anything would hit us, with gasoline

in our hatches, that would be the end of

everyone. The Japanese sailed by and

they didn't attack. One night while in

the Bay under repair, our officer let us

visit one of the Navy destroyers so that

we could see a movie. When we got

ready to get into the big life boat (car-

ried about 25) to go back to our ship it

was very foggy and we didn't get back

to the ship until early morning. Our

captain was upset, so that ruined our

chances of ever going back to watch a

movie on any other ship!

As we waited for the repairs on the

ship, the convoy left. After a matter of

several days we left on our own and zig

zagged through the ocean until we met

with our convoy. From there our desti-

nation was the Leyte Gulf, Philippines

Islands . On the way we had a number

of submarine attacks. We dropped

depth charges, luckily none of the

ships were hit.

When we got to the Leyte Gulf it is

reported that our vessel had 103 alerts

and 50 were direct attacks. On the 12th

a ship got hit with a suicide plane and

hit one of the hatches, I think it was the

BURKE, and 164 Army were killed.

The ROMANO was also in the Bay

with us at the time. The action was

heavy every day. I remember that the

Japanese fighters and bombers came

into the bay about every two hours. We

had a hard time telling our planes (P-

51) and the Japanese Zeros apart. They

looked so much alike. The US

Government later replaced the P-51

with P-38s and this made them easier to

identify.

All of the time we were in there, the

Navy destroyers and battleships were

protective. They fought off enemy air-

craft that were trying to blow us up.

While in the Bay we had a total of 5

planes we shot down. We had 5 marks

painted on our stacks . The smell was

terrible from the inland from all of the

deaths. They were digging holes and

burying the bodies, the wind would

catch the stench, it was bad.

After we were in the Bay a week or so we

had a typhoon that brought waves way

above our ship. With both anchors

down and the engines full speed ahead ,

the ship was still pulled back. There was

no way to go out on the decks.

When the storm subsided, the Japanese

planes started to attack again. I remem-

ber that there were three merchant ships

in the bay at the time to be unloaded. At

0710 (7:10) November 18, 1944, three

enemy planes of the suicide squad dove

out of a cloud for the S.S. ALCOA

PIONEER. Two of the planes sheered

off toward two other vessels anchored

near by. The third plane continued its

dive onto our vessel. I was in my ham-

mock, asleep, under the bow when I

heard the sirens go off, I went into posi-

tion and we saw the plane come in from

the stern and we knew right then we

were going to have some problems. It

happened so fast. I saw that we were

going to be hit by the planes, but due to

the fast action of our 20 mm guns and

our 4"50 crew in the stern, I think they

knocked two of the planes out. One

went down before our ship, another

went down on fire over our ship and the

third plane hit us midship, which did

all of the damage. Midship was where

most of all of the men were asleep or in

the Galley. Our officer and others were

killed and many were hurt.

Being the sight setter on the bow, we

could see everything that was going to

happen. The fire was so bad and every-

thing went so quickly. Considerable

damage was done to the midship sec-

tion. The stack was almost demolished

and the decks were torn up. I can still

remember seeing one of our men hang-

ing from a ladder of his gun tub by his

shoe. I also remember seeing one of our

men badly burned and one arm almost

severed and still pointing his gun. The

dog, Skipper, was blown through a

screen door and had a piece of shrapnel

in his back and yet he crawled over to his

officer and licked his face.

The fire on the bow was put out by the

fast action of a Navy ship that was near-

by. They worked under extreme danger

to get the fire out. They seemed to be

everywhere. They quickly had the fire

under control. They extracted men who

were seriously injured and pinned

under twisted steel plates and beams in

the rooms where the plane exploded

directly overhead. They took a number

of our people off to a number of differ-

ent ships. I had no knowledge of how

many people were hurt or killed at the

time because we had to stay at our guns.

I was very saddened and depressed after

seeing my best friends being killed and

hurt and not knowing if others were

hurt or killed.

I think there were only five of the Navy

men left on board, and it was our job to

man the guns. A number of the

Merchant Marines volunteered to help

us man the guns until replacements

could board the ship. In less than an

hour after the attack all guns were fully

manned. Within two hours the ship was

under attack again.

S.S. ALCOA PIONEER MEMORIES

The following day the Merchant

Marines and Longshoreman began to

unloaded our gasoline and cargo, many

working 18-24 hours straight . At the

same time we were under attack day and

night ( with an average 7-8 attacks daily)

, the Merchant Marines continued to

help us man the guns.

Some days later, since the engines were

not destroyed, we began our trip back to

San Francisco on our own power, but

only went a short way and had to be

towed back to the United States. It took

us about 54 days , which was a long time

at sea with no letters or messages. After

we arrived in San Francisco, they kept us

in separate quarters so that we would not

tell anyone on the base about the suicide

planes and we had to promise that on our

leave we would never mention to anyone

about the suicide attacks. All of my pic-

tures and sea bag contents were confis-

cated and they issued us all new clothes.

After my survivors' leave of three

weeks, the Twelfth Naval District

released to a local paper the following

report:"

Eagle-eyed Navy gunners aboard a

merchant ship had only a few seconds in

which to train their sights on three

Japanese planes that swooped down

through a cloud band off the coast of

Leyte last Nov. 19, but they bagged all

three."This story of traditional Yankee

marksmanship and high heroism was

revealed here recently in an official

report filed with the Armed Guard

Center. The commanding officer,

Lieutenant Howard Frederick Jersild

was killed in the attack. The report

revealed that a member of the heroic

Navy gun crew was Lenhart R. Lange,

S1/C."Many times I remember the

Navy and Merchant crew who were

with me on this mission and know that

they were heroes. I have prayed often for

those who lost their life and for their

families. Many times I look back and it

seems like this just happened yesterday.

Many thanks to Howard Jersilid's

grandson who got me in touch with

other survivors and sent me treasured

information. I have been able to share

this event more clearly with my family

because of his efforts. We continue to

remember those who lost their lives that

day.

I never served on the S.S. ALCOA

PIONEER again. When I went back

after my survivor's leave, I wasn't sure

what would become of me, but before

long I was sent back into action. I just

took this in stride. I knew I had to go

and there was no turning back. I hoped

the good Lord would keep me safe

again. My next ship was the S.S. CAPE

CANSO, which we sailed to San

Francisco to more action in the Pacific.

I was discharged on 4 April 1946.

Lenhart R. Lange

S.S. ALCOA PIONEER MEMORIES

Page 39

Page 40

C o nvoy to Murmansk

by Edwin Muller

Thousands of young naval officers are

getting their first taste of battle as mem-

bers of the Armed Guard on the

freighters that make up the convoys

going to ports all over the world. The

stirring story of one such officer is told in

"Convoy to Murmansk," originally pub-

lished in the Nautical Gazette, and

because of its high quality, republished

in the Reader's Digest.

"None of us realized what we were get-

ting into." Ensign Norman Adams, Jr.,

speaking, lately commander of the

Armed Guard on a U. S. freighter. A

naive and likable boy from Virginia. He

got his commission this year after a four

months' Naval Reserve training course.

No previous experience with the rough

and seamy side of things. Two young lads

of his gun crew, Crabtree and

Castleberry, were with him as he told me

the story.

The boxes that went into No. 1 hold were

marked TNT. Our Chief Engineer - I

guess he's about seventy-was there,

watching. "Boys," he said, "every one of

those boxes takes a year off my life." We

joked a lot about that.

"The first part of the voyage seemed like

a pleasure cruise. One of the boys,

Chronister, he's only seventeen, kept

saying, "Gee, I hope we get some excite-

ment."'

Reprinted from the Reader's Digest con-

densation of article from The Nautical

Gazette.

The first time I got a real idea of what

we'd be up against was when we reached

Iceland. Our captain, Hiss, and I went to

the conference at Reykjavik, the one they

have before every convoy sails. The com-

modore of the convoy was a solemn

Englishman. He told us that he didn't

want any of us to sail under a misappre-

hension, as this was going to be tough.

The worst of it came at the end of the

conference, when they assigned the ships'

positions. We'd thought that because of

the TNT we might be somewhere in the

middle. But we got the rear corner on the

starboard side. They call that the coffin

corner.

At the start we had some cruisers, in

addition to several destroyers. Despite

this heavy guard, our ship felt kind of

chilly and exposed back there in the cor-

ner. In those waters and at that time of

year it is light twenty-four hours a day. At

midnight the sun would just touch the

horizon and there'd be a little twilight.

It's a funny feeling never to have it dark.

"Four days out of Iceland things started."

Castleberry grinned. "That was

Crabtree's birthday," he interrupted to

say. "We told him, 'Boy, you better make

it good. It may be your last one."

"Just as the alarm sounded," Adams went

on, "we saw the enemy plane, a big one

coming low and fast from the starboard

quarter. We got on the guns but he kept

just out of range and circled the convoy.

Finally he disappeared over the horizon

the same direction he'd come."

Next day the plane came back. From then

on he never left us except when his relief

would take his place. We called him

'Nosey.'

When the first attack alarm sounded I

dashed up from my cabin. There were

three of them, coming in at 10,000 feet in

"V" formation. They flew right overhead

and everything in the convoy cut loose at

them. The noise was terrific. But they

didn't drop anything. They had been sent

over to draw our fire, to see how strong

we were.

Half an hour later ten of them came over.

This time they did the business. The

heavy thud of the bombs mixed in with

the noise of the A-A guns was deafening.

You could see waterspouts leaping up all

over the ocean.

One plane flew right down our column.

I was up in the star board aft pillbox with

Castleberry, working the .50-caliber. We

must have hit that plane because a puff of

white smoke came out of it and it veered

off out of the fight, losing altitude. Then

we had a little while when we could catch

our breath and look around. One of the

ships was dropping back, so she must

have been hit.

In the next attack three planes came

straight for our ship. One scored a near

miss not more than 25 feet off our stern."

What's a near miss like? I asked.

I'll tell you what that one was like. I saw

the bomb coming down, a speck like a

black raindrop that got bigger very fast.

There's a whistling, screeching sound

which gets louder and louder. Then a

moment of complete silence. With the

explosion a wall of water comes over the

side on you. The ship jumps up in the

water and there's a tremendous jarring as

if somebody shook you by the collar. You

feel sick."

Castleberry put in: "Seems as if you have

to reach way down for your stomach and

pull it up again."

"It throws you", said Crabtree. "One of

the crew was standing by me. It slammed

him down on a mug of hot coffee that was

on the deck. He jumped up yelling, 'My

God, I'm hit!'" "After that," Adams

resumed, "nothing much happened for

two or three hours. In those intervals you

walk around nerv-

ously, talking it over with this person and

that; you can't settle down. At mealtime

nobody sits down at the table. You just

grab a cup of coffee and a piece of bread

and meat and take it out on deck."

All this time there were enemy sub-

marines around, our destroyers setting

off depth charges. The next alarm

sounded a little past midnight. The

weather had got. thick, and with the sun

down on the horizon there was a sort of

weird half light. Peering through the

CONVOY TO MURMANSK

haze, I suddenly saw the long flashes of

tracer bullets from the ship next to us. I

knew what that meant. When we saw a

periscope we fired tracer bullets to indi-

cate its position.

Right away we heard the explosion. We

saw the whole ship split open lengthwise,

like a watermelon, as her cargo, of TNT

went off. She disappeared in a tremen-

dous burst of flame. Nothing remained

but floating debris.

We were all very quiet. I felt I had to say

something to the boys, so I said, "Well,

anyway, nobody on that ship ever knew

what hit them." We went around the rest

of the day trying to smile but not doing it

very well.

"Did you think you weren't going to

come through alive?" I asked.

"Yes!? - and I guess the others did too.

But nobody said so. It was funny, we were

all very polite to each other, even the

tough ones.

The next air raid was a torpedo attack.

We saw six planes astern, practically

hopping the waves. When torpedoes hit

the water they bounce once or twice, like

when you skip a flat stone on a pond.

Then they drive toward you, very fast.

Nobody got hit in that attack. We did a

lot of shooting and those planes didn't

stay long.

Nothing happened for an hour or two

except that we fired our big gun at the

wake of a submarine. The destroyers

moved in and we heard and felt their

depth charges pounding our sides like

giant hammers. We didn't see anything

more of that sub, and I went down to my

cabin to lie down for a while.

"Captain sent him there," Castleberry

interrupted. "He'd caught cold in

Iceland. Throat was so sore he couldn't

speak. His temperature was 102."

"Well, I didn't get to stay there long,"

Adams went on. "Five more torpedo

planes came over. They picked on a

Russian ship next to us. We kept edging

away from her because she too carried

TNT. In dodging a torpedo the Russian

cut sharp across our bow. It looked as if

we couldn't avoid the collision.

We forgot all about planes and torpe-

does. When the two ships finally cleared

each other there wasn't 20 feet between

them. Everybody went crazy. We and the

Russians both were dancing around on

the decks, yelling across at each other.

"The next attack was by dive bombers.

The sun was bright by then, and there

were a few big fleecy clouds. We could

hear the planes humming but they'd keep

right in the sun so we could hardly see

them.

"They got the Russian ship with a direct

hit. Flames and smoke began to come out

of her bows. And she was edging over

toward us, so close that we were afraid

that if she went up we'd go too. In avoid-

ing her, we fell a long way behind the

convoy. That's the worst thing that can

happen to you. The planes always go

after a straggler.

"Three dive bombers came for us. They

straddled the ship with bombs that

couldn't have been nearer. We were

stunned and thrown all over the deck,

half drowned with the water that

came over the side. I thought it was all

over then, but nothing hit us. We went

back to the guns. "By the time we

regained our place in the convoy there

was another raid on.

"You remember that boy, Chronister, I

told you about? The seventeen-year-old

one? He was up on the bridge working

the starboard .30. He must have looked

sort of green in the face, because the

Captain said, 'What's the matter, boy?'

And he said, "Nothing. I guess some-

thing I ate gave me a stomach ache." And

he went on working the gun.

"All through the worst of it Captain Hiss

was as calm as if he was in church. After

the stick of bombs straddled us, he called

through the tube to McCarthy in the

engine room, 'You still there, Mac?' He

grinned at whatever Mac called back. I

heard afterward that when a bomb hit

close all the lights in the engine room

went out and a lot of metal trimmings

were shaken loose and went barging

around. They had it a lot worse down

there than we did.

All this time things were happening to the

rest of the convoy. Clouds of oily, black

smoke were rolling up from the forward

deck of the Russian ship and bright

flames were breaking through it. You

could see the crew with their heads down,

hauling the hose into the smoke. Those

Russians had nerve. All that TNT under

th*eir feet. And they could have taken to

the boats and been picked up. Two other

crews had already abandoned ship. Some

of the boats came drifting back past us.

According to orders we let them go for

the rescue ship to pick up."

"A comical thing happened about that

time," said Castleberry. "I knew a boy in

one of the crews that took to the water. A

crazy kid. Well, I saw him sitting all by

himself astride a capsized lifeboat. The

waves were bouncing him up and down

like he was riding a bronco. When he

went past we could hear him, between the

bursts of gunfire, yelling at us. What he

was yelling was, --Hi-ho, Silver!"

Ensign Adams resumed: It made you

mad all through to see ships sunk and

men in the water. You kept on the guns

and shot at every plane in sight, whether

it was in range or not, like a kid shooting

at a duck that he knows is too far away.

But we got one plane. Saw its wing fall

off.

We realized about then that the planes

were machine-gunning us. The tracers,

crisscrossing every which way, were like

fireworks on the Fourth of July. One

plane headed toward us, flying low, with

CONVOY TO MURMANSK

Page 41

six guns going at once. Why it didn't hit

any of us I can't figure out. Another time

we were shooting at a plane, it was shoot-

ing at us, and two other ships were firing

at it across our decks.

By now the Russian ship had got her fire

under control. She hadn't even lost her

place in the convoy. But two more ships

had been sunk.

The next day was quiet. It had been four

days since Nosey first picked us up.

There'd been lulls between the air raids-

except for submarines being around. But

we were on edge. I don't think anybody

slept at all. However, we began to think we

were past the worst of it. We weren't.

The following day was cold, below freez-

ing, and a strong wind was blowing. When

the raid came, I had a little trouble climb-

ing up the ladder to the pillbox. My tem-

perature was up to 104. Seven torpedo

planes were followed by dive bombers. I

realized how the strain was piling up on us

when I watched one of the crew on deck.

He was making motions with his hands, as

if he was warding off the bombs. Probably

I'd been doing the same thing myself.

We weren't shooting so much now

because we were running low on ammu-

nition. It had got to be a sort of endurance

race--how much more we could take? It

seemed as if we could stand it if only it

would get dark, just for an hour or two.

But in half an hour another wave of

bombers came for us.

Two bombs straddled our ship and again

there was that shaking and jarring and

the sick feeling. I was about past caring.

When the next flight of planes came over

the horizon, several hours later, I was

wondering whether that wasn't more

than I could take. Then suddenly I saw

the lead plane begin to do stunt loop and

barrel rolls. They were Russians. That's

the way they signal that they are friends.

We cheered them.

At 9 A.M. we made our landfall. For the

first time in a week we sat down to a meal

together. I couldn't eat but I was happy

anyway. Through that whole week of

raids not a man on the ship had been seri-

ously hurt, just a few scratches from

shrapnel. We planned a celebration

ashore but it was too soon.

Somebody outside shouted that planes

were coming over. We ran out on deck

and there they were fifteen of them.

Being so near the land we were sure they

were Russians, though they didn't signal.

Not even the escort vessels fired on them.

They came directly overhead.

And then, one after the other, they dived

on us, concentrating on our ship.

An officer on one of the destroyers told

me later that he counted thirteen bombs,

then we were hidden by smoke and

explosions and floods of water.

I can't tell you about it myself. It's a sort

of nightmare that I don't remember very

well. But at last I realized that the attack

was over. We hadn't received one direct

hit. That ship had a charmed life.

A few hours later we were anchored in

the Kola River, just below Murmansk.

I went to bed and slept through twenty-

four hours."

CONVOY TO MURMANSK

Page 42

Page 43

U.S.N. Armed Guard WWII

V e t e r a n s

Charles April Lloyd, Chairman

July 14, 2008

Where do you start to tell about the cold

North Atlantic waters after 62 years of

North Carolina USA Weather. Your

memory may be slipping but not the

memory of the time when your breath

freezes on your wool face mask and you

have all the best foul weather gear on that

you are able to wear to your gun station.

You look out into the darkness on the 12

to 4 watch in search for any sign of the

enemy who did not mind taking your life

and all the others on your ship regardless

if you carried some of his and your ances-

tors blood or not. They had been taught

to kill and we had been taught the same.

To kill or be killed. That was the name of

the game.

Let me start over again where I became

interested in being a sailor. Being born

into a family in rural Wake County,

North Carolina, whose livelihood for

survival was tobacco farming, I knew

what work was and respect to my parents

who taught us that if we wanted cars and

the good things of life, we had to work

for it for nobody in those days gave hand-

outs whether rich or poor in our part of

the world. There was no law at that time

if your dad slapped you butt for not

doing your part. You worked together as

a team, large and small.

When World War II started, one broth-

er, L. Whitson Lloyd tried to volunteer

on December 8, 1941 but so many had

beat him to volunteer by 8 A.M. that he

went home and was there earlier the next

morning but the line was longer and was

told to sign their name on a a form and

wait to be called when they could process

them and to go home and enjoy their

Christmas with their family and friends

for it may be their last, as we were at war.

This gentleman was in WW I and knew

what the score was.

Whitson was inducted into the Navy on

December 28th and with a little training,

he was on his way to the cities of

Murmansk and Archangel, Russia. He

made two trips there and he told of how

cold it was in the North Atlantic and the

40 or more degrees below in Russia. I

took all this in and I kept up with the war

in Europe. I had kept up with the war

before we were attacked at Pearl Harbor

which included the Russians invading

Poland and the battles there. I had all the

history I could absorb with the Germans

taking over France, Belgium, and the

battles in North Africa. I had kept up

with the slaughter of the Chinese by the

Japanese army and wondered why there

was no one in that part of the country

who would help.

I became educated in all the battlefronts

and when Germany turned against

Russia and needed our help, I saw the

fright in my brother's face when he

returned and told us a little after we

swore not to tell anyone of the sinking of

ships and shooting down enemy planes.

He came home with a blue hip and he

finally broke down and told us his ship,

the S.S.EXPOSITOR had been sunk off

of Greenland on Feb. 22, 1943 and some-

one saved his life by dragging him into

the lifeboat. After 2 hours in the lifeboat,

the British ship, HMS TRILLIUM res-

cued them.

I asked him when he came home, what

was the best branch of service to get in if

I was called up and he said the U.S. Navy

and that the branch of the Armed Guard

was as safe as anything else as the subs

were not sinking as many ships and you

had a warm place to sleep and good food

and you were as safe there as any place so

in September 14, 1944 I entered the serv-

ice in the Navy and asked for the USN

Armed Guard after BOOT CAMP

training. After “BOOTS”, I took some

very good gunnery training at Camp

Shelton Virginia and was sent to the

Armed Guard Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

and shipped out on the S.S.

MIAOULIS, a Greek lendlease ship.

Here I was, a country boy who had never

seen a big ship until I was aboard a small

gunship at Camp Shelton, Virginia for

one day and now I am on the docks at

Greenpoint, New York and I am looking

up at an empty Liberty Ship riding high

in the water. I would have bet my mule

back home it would sink if it wasn't tied

to the pier. It took about 2 weeks to load

her down and each day we got back to her

after Liberty in New York, she was not as

high out of the water as she was the day

before. One day, my brother, L.D. and I,

as we came back aboard from Liberty

visiting our sister in Brooklyn, we could

step off of the pier, on to the ship‚s rail

and jump down on the deck. Once

aboard, our Gunnery Officer, Lt(jg)

Honick gave us the sad news that Liberty

was over and we were to stay aboard at all

times as we would sail soon. That we did

and out of the harbor we went and there

we saw more ships than I thought in the

world. As far as the eye could see were

ships in all directions. destination

unknown. As I was on my first cruise, the

“Old Salts” who had been going to sea for

several years said for sure we were not

going to Russia as the cartons were not

stamped- MADE IN RUSSIA. This

was done so the Russian people them-

selves did not know anyone else were

helping them.

Our trip ended up in Liverpool, England

after a successful voyage through sub

infested waters but thank God for our

escorts and the baby flat tops and those

brave pilots who flew those planes off of

them in choppy seas, we made it safely

even though we almost were rammed

several times in days of foggy weather

and sort of rough seas. I think back now

how cold we got in the North Atlantic

going over. We were relieved every 20

minutes in the coldest weather.

When the stevedores started bringing

the cargo out of the holds, I could not

believe how many tires of all sorts that

came out of one hold of the ship. Then

came the pallets of 1 gallon cans of bone-

less chicken and turkey out of another

hold. You see, I stayed on Liberty in New

U.S.N. ARMED GUARD WWII VETERANS

Page 44

York and I had no idea they put so much

in a hold of a ship. Here, I had the day-

light watch and could see it all. I almost

forgot to say anything about the 6 fight-

er planes on the top of aft holds and the

train engines and cranes on the forward

holds. Now I think of the 810 Liberty

ships sunk and many with full cargo. We

did not know of this at the time. Thirty

eight just disintergrated when hit by a

torpedo or aerial bomb.

We picked up a load of camoflage net-

ting and metal landing strips and took it

to Ghent, Belgium and as we were sailing

through the English Channel to the

Schelde River, the sky was dark with air-

planes going to and from across the chan-

nel to deliver bombs on the enemy and

return for more bombs. When we

docked at Ghent, I really saw total

destruction that was unbelievable that

this could have happened. Liverpool was

terrible but most all of the dock area here

was flattened for miles.

We were rammed awaiting our turn to go

down the canal to Ghent, flattening the

causeway along outside the chowhall

where most were eating breakfast.

Luckly, it hit a glancing blow and if it was

probably 1/2 degree more, we would

have all been killed. When we unloaded

at Ghent and sailed back out to the

Schelde, we had to sail on up to Antwerp

for repairs which took over two weeks

for repairs. While there, the Germans

finally surrendered and it was a joyous

night for all. The planes would fly down

the harbor with their running lights on

and pull up and fire all their guns with all

tracers and it was a beautiful sight. If I

had a camcorder then, I would have had

some wonderful photos to show. With all

the fog horns going into the night, I

didn‚t think it would ever end. I was

thinking what I would be doing if I was

in New York. All of us were so happy and

our thoughts were, how long would the

Japanese go on fighting with Germany

and Italy out of the war.

We were finally repaired and we sailed

back to England to get ballast for the

ship and the British started charging $30.

per ton for dirt we were told and the

Greeks refused to pay, so down the

English Channel we sailed with the pro-

peller half way out of the water and into

the Atlantic, on our way home. When the

convoy was about 10 days out, the weath-

er struck with a vicious blow and the

smooth seas turned into 80-100 foot

waves and all of the propeller was out of

the water most of the time and then

below water the rest. We were very fortu-

nate not to break up or ram another ship.

Two or three days later, the storm sub-

sided and we were in a thick, soupy fog

bank for a day or so and then out of the

fog into a beautiful sun shiny weather

with the ocean as smooth as glass and the

sail fish had their day. What a relief !! No

fog horns and easy to get to the chow hall.

Three days in the roughest weather, we

would take the shaft ally to midship to

get our sandwiches as it was to rough to

cook in the galley big pots.

We had smooth sailing the rest of the

way and most ships had left the convoy

and high tailed it home after they took

off during the storm. We cleaned the

guns and painted the gun tubs and

secured them and we all started talking

about Liberty and what we were going to

do. Brother, L.D. and I were on the ship

all this time and we had asked for Liberty

as soon as we got into the harbor to go

and visit our sister who had married a

guy from Brooklyn and he was in the

Pacific on the USS WISCONSIN. We

had spent a lot of our Liberty there

before we left. Permission was granted

and over to our sister‚s house we went to

surprise her and it was great to see her

again. After a few hugs, laughter and

more hugs, she looked at us and said,

“You must not have heard about

Whitson!” We told her we hadn't and we

asked her. “What about him” She began

crying and said he was killed May 5th in

the sinking of his ship, the S.S. BLACK

POINT off Rhode Island and several of

his buddies had been to see her to give

condolences and tell her what they knew.

I still talk to Al Colella, one of the sur-

vivors and we have been together at the

reunions many times and we placed a

memorial at Point Judith, Rhode Island

where he and 11 Merchant Seamen were

killed 3 miles out to sea on May 5, 1945.

Needless to say, we left and returned to

the Armed Guard Center and asked for,

and got a 12 day leave to go home and

visit our parents and for them to have us

a ship to go to Japan when we got back as

we wanted to help settle the score there.

When we returned, they had an Army

Transport in Baltimore and away we

went. It had been rammed by the French

Aircraft Carrier Berne off the Azores

with a loss of about 40 Army Men and

one Armed Guard. When we were

repaired, we sailed to Naples and loaded

up with a load of combat troops for

Japan.

One day out, they dropped the first

bomb and then they dropped the second

one, that has changed history and the

Japs surrendered. They changed our

orders and we brought the troops home

to Newport News, Virginia. Two more

fast trips to the Med to bring the troops

home and they removed our crew and we

all have always said:

THANK YOU PRESIDENT

HARRY TRUMAN- YOU SAVED

OUR LIVES.

In 1982, I attended a meeting of Armed

Guard and I saw the need to organize and

locate our shipmates. I have located over

22,045 of the original 144,970 over a 25

year period and the search goes on. For

those who read this in the future to find

out about the Armed Guard, go to a com-

puter and type in at GOOGLE:

http://www.armed-guard.com and tell

everyone you see ---- and think of me.

Charles A. Lloyd, Chairman 1985-2009

God Bless America - Save the World

U.S.N. ARMED GUARD WWII VETERANS

The 50th Anniversary of

“ D e r v i s h ”

By Professor A. G. Uvarov, Captain

1st Rank, Russian Navy (Rtd.)

In August 1941 ‘Dervish’ became the code

name of the first Allied Convoy PQ O,

which sailed from an Icelandic fjord to

Archangel. The convoy comprised six

cargo ships and one tanker. Close escort

was provided by anti-submarine vessels,

destroyers and minesweepers, nine ships

in all. The aircraft carrier 'Victorious",

two cruisers and three destroyers gave

additional cover. The convoy arrived in

the White Sea without loss. To the West

of Cape Kanin Nos it was met by the

Northern Fleet destroyers, Groznyj,

Oritskij and Kujbyshey, and on the fol-

lowing day, 3rd August, the convoy

arrived safely in Archangel.

The convoy delivered 10,000 tons of

rubber, 3,800 depth-charges and magnet-

ic mines, 15 Hurricane fighters, 1,500

tons of army boots and a great deal of

other essential equipment, 534 pilots and

ground crew from Britain were carried on

the convoy ships and escort vessels for

service in Russia.

This first convoy marked the beginning

of a five-year operation to deliver strate-

gic military equipment, non-ferrous met-

als, industrial plant, fuel and lubricant

supplies, machine tools, foodstuffs and

other consignments, of which our coun-

try was in dire need. This enterprise was

subsequently given the unofficial name of

‘Arctic Convoys'.

Between 1941 and 1945 the Arctic

Convoys delivered 4.2 million tons of

supplies to Archangel, Molotovsk (now

Sevrodvinsk) and Murmansk, this con-

stituting 23.8% of the overall total given

to the USSR by the wartime Allies on

lend-lease. It should be noted that during

the first year of the war, the Arctic was the

only route for the delivery of supplies to

the USSR. Overall of the 811 vessels of

the 40 convoys which set off for Russia

only 720 arrived in port.

Of the 35 convoys comprising 715 vessels

sailed from Russia to Britain only 680

reached their destination. The total num-

ber of ships lost in convoy and associated

enemy action amounted to 104 merchant

ships and 23 warships.

In the year 1991, the 50'h Anniversary of

the arrival in Russia of the first convoy

"Dervish", the country's leaders decided

that with the dawn of 'Perestroika’ they

would lift the 'Iron Curtain'. They

allowed the Russian people to openly

express their gratitude to the seamen of

the Allied convoys who had risked their

lives to keep Russia supplied during

those desperate war years.

Preparations to celebrate the 50'h

Anniversary of the Northern Convoys

got under way early in the year 1991. To

achieve the aims, a Joint Organising

Committee was formed headed by the

Deputy Minister of the Russian

Merchant Fleet, U. A. Mikhailov.

Committee members included C in C of

the Russian Navy, Vice-Admiral A. A.

Kyzmin, Chief of the Northern Shipping

Line; A. N. Gagarin, a representative of

the international non-governmental

fund- "In Eternal Memory of Our

Soldiers"; and A. P. Korovin, Chairman of

the Archangel Municipal Executive

Committee. With the full support of the

Naval High Command, the Northern

Fleet Command, the City Authorities of

Murmansk, Archangel and Sevrodvinsk

and other sponsors, the Committee

accomplished the monumental task of

preparing the celebrations, which had the

title "Dervish ‘91 ".

Some 1,000 Soviet Convoy veterans and

200 veterans from Britain, U.S.A.,

Canada, Norway, France and Poland were

invited to join in the festivities. The logis-

tics in respect of the provision of free food

and accommodation having been

resolved, the Northern Fleet Command

organised a general fleet exercise in the

Barents Sea to be held during "Dervish 91

", which was overseen by the Deputy

Commander of the Northern Fleet, Vice-

Admiral 1. V. Kazatonov.

The Northern Shipping Company

arranged a six-vessel convoy, and

arrangements were made for the Royal

Navy frigate "London" and the Tanker

"Tidespring" to participate in a joint exer-

cise with warships of the Northern Fleet.

An exhibition of military equipment, the

unveiling of monuments and commemo-

rative plaques, receptions, banquets and

press conferences were organized, and

various books concerning the event wore

published. Concerts were held by the

Northern Fleet Command's vocal and

instrumental ensemble "Spirit of the Sea",

and the Song and Dance group along with

the Brass Band of the Headquarters

Northern Fleet also participated, as did

many other independent groups.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DERVISH

Page 45

Page 46

The President of the U.S.S.R., M. S.

Gorbachev; President of the Russian

Federation, Boris N. Yeltsin; the

Patriarch of all Russia, Alexsei II;

President Bush of the U.S.A.; John

Major, the British Prime Minister, and

Brian Mulroony, the Prime Minister of

Canada, were all invited as Honorary

Commodores.

To promote this historic event in the

mass media, Journalists and TV

reporters were invited from all coun-

tries involved, including Japan. For

radio and television transmissions, they

were allowed the use of facilities aboard

the scientific research ship "Cosmonaut

Vladimir Komarov" and communica-

tion satellites.

In spite of these extensive preparations,

the coup d’etat that took place in

Moscow on the 19'h August could have

meant the end of the project.

Nevertheless, the Organizing

Committee decided in good old naval

tradition to press ahead regardless, with

the organization of the 50'h

Anniversary of ‘Dervish'.

The British Ministry of Defence react-

ed by requesting the Russian destroyer

"Okrylyennij" enroute to participate in

the Navy Day celebrations in

Portsmouth be returned to

Sevrodvinsk. Then on the 21st August,

ordered the frigate "London", enroute

to Murmansk, to divert to Rosyth.

On the 23d August, after the coup had

ended, the "London" left Rosyth and

headed in a northerly direction, but per-

mission to participate in "Dervish 91"

was not given until 17.45 hours. hours

on the 26' August. Captain Mark

Stanhope broadcast to his ship's compa-

ny "Learn Russian, especially how to

ask for a drink and how to repay the

Russians for this. I hope that this will be

an historic, interesting and joyful visit

for all of you "

None of the convoy veterans were the

least bit deterred by the coup, which

took place between 22nd and 24th

August, some of them arrived in

Murmansk, and a trip was organized

for the veterans to visit the "Valley of

Glory", This was the first allied reunion

in forty-six years and, needless to say,

was a most joyous occasion for all par-

ticipants.

On the 26'h August some 100 Soviet

veterans of the Arctic Convoys, journal-

ists, TV reporters and eleven veterans

of the British Russian Convoy were

welcomed on board the hospital ship

"Svir". In charge of the Russian veterans

was the Chairman of the Council of

Veterans of the Northern Fleet

(Admiral V. M. Mikhailin with his

deputy, K. A. Lyubimov).

Commander of the Fleet, Admiral F. 1.

Gromov came to see the "Svir" off prior

to its actual departure. At precisely

1700 hours, the "Svir", escorted by sev-

eral other vessels departed

Severomorsk. The ships left Kola Inlet

on a northwesterly heading for the

North Cape/Bear Island area to ren-

dezvous with the convoy. The frigate

"London" and the tanker "Tidespring"

was to accompany them on the first joint

voyage and convoy exercise since 1945.

During this exercise, two submarines,

seven TU16 heavy bombers, six air-

defence PYO SU7 fighters, two KA26

helicopters and two M12 seaplanes

were to represent the 'enemy'. An hour

after departure the minesweepers began

a training sweep ahead of the ships, then

a group of TUI6S attacked the "Svir"

and escorts, dropping smoke versions

of real bombs. The escort ships put up a

smoke screen and repelled the attack

with artillery fire. Later, towards the

evening, they began firing at the floating

mines.

Early on the 27h August, the hospital

ship "Svir" and her escorting vessels

reached the North Cape/Bear Island

area to rendezvous with the convoy and

form up in sailing order. The convoy

included the bulk-carriers "Shura

Kolber", “Zarechenk", "Soviet Sailor",

“Pioneer Murman", "Andrei Ivanov",

the Recovery Vessel "Murmanryba", the

"Svir" and the tanker "Tidespring",

which had arrived eerier, all formed

convoy then headed east. During the

afternoon and evening, the escorts con-

tinued to hunt 'enemy' submarines and

repel air attacks by TU16 bombers and

SU7 fighters. The Convoy Commander

Vice-Admiral 1. V. Kazatonov assessed

that "Action against the enemy air raids

from three directions was carried out

most efficiently by the extensive use of

smoke screens and Electronic Counter

Measures (ECM).”

At 2100 hours, a happy, exciting event

took place. The British frigate

"London" along with the Russian frigate

"Gromkij" reached the convoy and,

under full power, sailed past close to the

starboard side of "Svir". The ship's

company of the frigates and the veterans

on the "Svir" greeted each other with

such enthusiasm that many had tears in

their eyes. The exercise resumed on the

morning of the 28h August. At 0800

hours a submarine, submerged at

periscope depth, carried out a torpedo

attack on the "Svir" then surfaced to

greet the ships of the convoy. At 1100

hours, the Commander of the British

contingent, Flag Officer of the 1st

Flotilla of the British Fleet, Rear-

Admiral Bruce Richardson, transferred

from the "London" to the "Gromkij" for

a meeting with Vice-Admiral I. V.

Kazatonov. He said when greeting the

Russian Vice Admiral, "It is a great hon-

our for me to represent the officers and

men of the Royal Navy." Throughout

the day SU27s circled the convoy, the

ships fired on an air target drogue.

Submarine attacks were countered by

specially equipped bombs.

During the three days the "Svir" was at

sea, there were warm, friendly reunions

on the mess-decks, cabins and ward-

room, and the British and Russian vet-

erans chatted together exchanged sou-

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DERVISH

Page 47

venirs. An excellent buffet with every

drink imaginable helped to warm up

everyone. On the second day, Admiral

Mikhailin, in a solemn ceremony, pre-

sented all eleven members of the

Russian Convoy Club and many

Russian veterans with commemorative

badges carrying the inscription "50'h

Anniversary of the Russian Convoys".

Finally at 1430 hours the convoy

entered the Kola Inlet, and later at 1900

hours the "Svir" and the "London" tied

up at the Murmansk Sea Wharf. Only

an hour after docking, all the visitors

and their guests were seated in the huge

auditorium of the Kirov Palace of

Culture at a festive gathering and gala

concert held in honour of the arrival of

"Dervish ‘91 in Russian waters. The cor-

dial atmosphere of the auditorium

spilled over into the hall on the 1st floor

where a festive meal was served. This

was rounded off by dancing and singing

accompanied by the band of the

Headquarters Northern Fleet and

Royal Marine Band.

On the 29'h August the Veterans and

their hosts visited the Murmansk

International Cemetery where a solemn

ceremony was held. Wreaths were laid

in honour of those who had perished in

the Arctic Convoys. They made their

way then to the grand monument "The

Seamen of the Northern Seas Alyesha",

where a ceremony was held in memory

of those who died. At 1900 hours the

hospital ship "Svir", the "London", the

"Gromkij" and the tanker "Tidespring"

sailed, entering the Barents Sea, and

headed for Archangel. Then the main

group of visitors flew there on the 30th

August.

During the transit to Archangel on the

30th, at the spot where the frigate,

‘Passat", a deeply moving ceremony was

held on board the "Svir". The

Patriarch's envoy, Father Nikodim,

prayed for the souls of the seamen who

had perished. To the strains of solemn

music and a salute fired by the ship's

guns, wreathes were cast on the water.

Then at last came the dawn of the 31st

August, the morning of the 50th

Anniversary of the arrival of Convoy

"Dervish" in Archangel. All along the

route through the channel of the

Northern Dvina, from the Zirnnegorsk

lighthouse to Archangel, people gath-

ered along the banks to greet the ships

of the convoy. Finally, we reached the

quay at Archangel. It seemed that the

whole population of the town, young

and old, had gathered along the shores

of the Dvina to welcome the arrival of

"Dervish ‘91”. As the ships were

approaching the docking area, a 21-gun

salute rang out and the "Svir", proud

and unhurried, went through the ritual

of tying-up at the "Red Pier".

With great delight and excitement, the

townspeople, war veterans and those

guests who had flown into Murmansk

were there to meet the "Svir" and the vet-

erans of the Arctic Convoys. This was a

great occasion; the first time ships of the

Royal Navy had come to Archangel

since the end of the War, forty-six years

before. On the shore to meet the guests

were all the members of the Organising

Committee, Air Force General V. P.

Potapov, representatives of the local

authorities, as well as the Naval

Attaches of Great Britain and America,

Captains Mchael Caswell and Sergei A.

lonov.

During the three days the "Svir" was at

sea, there were warm, friendly reunions

on the mess-decks, cabins and ward-

room, and the British and Russian vet-

erans chatted together and After a meet-

ing when Vice-Admiral Kazatonov

reported the successful completion of

"Dervish 91” to the Chairman of the

Organising Committee, U. A.

Mukailov, there was a massive rally.

Columns of servicemen with banners,

Guards of Honour, Soviet and British

detachments of sailors, and veterans

bearing the standards of the Russian

Convoy Club, North Russia Club and

Soviet Russian organisations made their

way to the monument "Defenders of the

North", at the base of which burns the

Eternal Flame in memory of fallen

heroes.

In front of the monument, troops with

their banners, British and Soviet Naval

Guards of Honour and veterans who

had come for the celebrations stood in

square formation. An enormous crowd

of veterans and townsfolk filled the

whole square around the monument.

Then, slowly approaching the square,

came the armoured vehicle carrying the

container holding the remains of the

"Unknown Sailor of the Northern Seas",

which had been taken from Boundary

sign NI of the legendary Mushta

Tontur Itils on the Srednij

and brought to Archangel on board the

"Gromkj”i. The container was carried

slowly and majestically to the base of

the monument, past the ranks of sailors

who bowed in respect. It was then

placed in an urn and laid beside the

Eternal Flame.

The Archbishop of Archangel,

Viadylka Panteleimon, conducted a

moving service in memory of all those

killed on the field of battle and those

who perished at sea or died from their

wounds. He prayed that all those who

had laid down their lives for their coun-

try and their Christian faith had found

peace and would remain blessed in

memory. Tears welled up in the eyes of

many of those present. As the service

came to an end, the container with the

ashes was lowered into a recess in front

of the Eternal Flame to the sombre

choral of the large church choir.

Banners and standards were dipped

slowly to the ground and guns were

fired in salute. The recess was then

sealed with an iron plate inscribed with

the words "Here lies the remains of the

Unknown Sailor of the Northern Seas,

August 91 " - Representatives of two

British Clubs, a detachment of sailors,

and children from Archangel laid

wreaths and flowers at the place where

the urn was buried. There followed a

solemn procession of people with ban-

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DERVISH

Page 48

ners, Guards of Honour, bands of the

Fleet Headquarters and Royal Marines

and the veterans of the Arctic Convoys

from the Russian Convoy Club the

North Russia Club and Soviet Convoy

Associations.

At the close of the ceremony, hundreds of

people surged forward to lay wreaths

and floral tributes at the Eternal Flame

in memory of those who died. After the

unveiling of a memorial plaque by the

wartime head of the Regional State

Committee for Defence and Chief of the

Northern Sea Lanes, twice Hero of the

Soviet Union, 1. D. Papanin, on the

building of the Regional Executive as

well as at the Memorial Stone on the

embankment, all the veterans and other

guests assembled for a festive reception

in the Archangel Palace of Sport. Tables

had been laid in the Guest Hall for 1,300

people, and a huge was provided in the

centre for the dance ensembles and

orchestra. The tables groaned under the

profusion of seafood from the Barents

Sea and the varied selection of strong

drinks. In all probability, none of the vis-

itors had ever attended a reception on

such a grand scale.

After some short speeches, the concert

began with the vocal ensemble "Spirit of

the Sea" and the bands of the Northern

Fleet Headquarters and the Royal

Marines. Undoubtedly, the high point of

the concert was reached when the former

Boy Seaman of the Northern Fleet and

Peoples Artist of the USSR, Boris

Shtokolov, sang the famous song "Ave

Maria" and, at the request of some of the

veterans, sang old sea shanties that they

used to sing long before in wartime. It

was these songs which moved the old

sailors to tears, and they smothered the

singer with flowers and kisses. All pres-

ent joined in with "Tipperary" and other

favourites- they danced around in cou-

ples, and people in groups grabbed each

other by the hand with no thought to age.

When this wonderful gala evening was

over everybody went outside and were

delighted with the sight of the whole sky

lit up by the colourful display of the cel-

ebration salute.

On the 1st September, the veterans took

a trip to the Malye Karely to see the strik-

ing examples of wooden architecture

peculiar to Northern Russia. On board

the "London" in the evening, there was a

traditional Cocktail Party for V.I.Ps- the

organisers of "Dervish 91 ", the

Commanders of the Convoy Ships,

Military Attachés and the highly hon-

oured British and Soviet veterans of the

Arctic Convoys. Finally on Tuesday 2d

September, after the ships of "Dervish

91" had sailed, all the guests departed for

home, taking with them everlasting,

vivid memories and impressions of this

historic occasion.

Ten years have passed since the "Dervish

9 1 " celebrations, but this extraordinary

event in the lives of our people and

wartime allies will be remembered for a

long time to come. A month after the

event, 1 received a letter from a British

veteran, Geoff Shelton, who befriended

me aboard the hospital ship "Svir". One

passage in the letter touched me very

deeply.

“Hospitality and warm reception they

extended to us. Although the war fin-

ished forty-six years ago, not even in my

wildest dreams could 1 have believed

that one day 1 would take part in such a

wonderful event. On the Sunday morn-

ing in Archangel, 1 listened to the chil-

dren singing and dancing. Tears ran down

my cheeks as 1 reflected that if those

brave Russian and British young men

hadn't sacrificed their lives for the sake

of freedom, those children just would

not be alive now. These seamen, soldiers

and airmen did not die in vain. 1et those

singing and dancing children remind us

of the need to strengthen the bonds of

friendship in the name of peace, and let

that peace be sacred. Once again, thank

you for your kindness and hospitality.

The memory will remain with me for

ever."

Tears ran down my cheeks as I reflected

that if those brave Russian and British

young men hadn't sacrificed their lives

for the sake of freedom, those children

just would not be alive now. These sea-

men, soldiers and airmen did not die in

vain. Let those singing and dancing chil-

dren remind us of the need to strengthen

the bonds of friendship in the name of

peace, and let that peace be sacred. Once

again, thank you for your kindness and

hospitality. The memory will remain

with me for ever."

Statistical Information

From March 11th 1941 up to March 31st

1946, deliveries to the USSR from

Britain and America (not counting

Canada) were made along three routes; -

by the Northern Convoys, through Iran,

and by the Far East ports. Deliveries

included-22,206 aircraft, 12,755 tanks,

471,257 vehicles (lorries, jeeps, tractors,

and motorcycles), 13,150 anti-aircraft and

anti-tank guns, 131,633 torpedoes, 473

million shells, 4,005 rifles and automatic

weapons, 345,735 tons of explosives,

1,981 railway engines, 11, 155 railway

wagons and flat trucks, 54,000 tons of

rails, 2,670,000 tons of fuel and oil,

842,000 tons of chemicals, more than

1,050,000 miles of telephone cable,

3,786,000 vehicle tyres, 49,000 tons of

leather, 15 million pairs of army boots, 69

million square metres of woollen fabric,

various ships including 1 battleship, 1

cruiser, 9 destroyers, 28 frigates, 43

Landing Ships, 78 patrol boats, 166 tor-

pedo boats, 4 submarines, 89

minesweepers 96 cargo vessels and 3 ice-

breakers.

Britain shipped to Russia war material to

the value of $308 million and raw materi-

al, foodstuffs, plant and medical supplies

provisions worth $120 million. The war

material contributed to Russia by the

U.S.A. is said to have been worth a total

of 11,260 million dollars. The overall

tonnage transported through the Arctic

was 3,960,000 tons out of a global total

of 16,366,000 tons.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DERVISH

Page 49

US NAVY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION

Page 50

IN MEMORY OF TOM BOWERMAN

Please notify us when you move.

Page 51

May/Sep 2008 Edition

This POINTER is dedicated to the 144,970 USN Armed Guard who served in WW II; to the 1810 AG KIAs and the Approx.350,000 Merchant Marine who served, and the over 8765 KIAs and to the many injured from both Units. It is also dedicated to allthe AG/MM POWs who spent many days and nights not knowing whether they would be killed or live to be freed. It is also ded-icated to all branches of service and to those Allies who served and those taken prisoner for the duration. For those who read thisin years to come, may you tell others of the treatment at the hands of the enemy. God Bless the USA.

"Donations keeps us afloat"

USN Armed Guard WW II Veterans115 Wall Creek DriveRolesville, N.C. 275711 (919) 570-0909clloyd@nc.rr.comwww.armed-guard.com

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andWe Did!

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